BALDWIN — Last week, all five patrol cars sat parked at the Baldwin police station, each with half a tank of gas or less.

The gas cards are maxed out and local service stations have reached their limit extending credit to the police department, Police Chief Harry Smith Jr. said.

So, when officers patrol they do so on foot, Smith said, and only the few complaint calls they get each day and the rare emergency now justify starting up a unit and putting it into drive.

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"I inherited this mess," he said last week. "I'm doing the best I can, Lord have mercy."

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Smith said his budget runs about $500,000 each year, which the town's five aldermen have approved. But the reality is that what's talked about and approved in budget hearings and town meetings doesn't actually pay the bills.

"I got a paper full of numbers on it, but I don't have any money," said Smith, who claimed that when a patrol unit needs maintenance, he breaks out the wrenches and goes to work.

The department has seven full-time officers and about 20 reserve officers who work part time when needed, and when the budget allows, he said.

Mayor Donna Lancelin, who like Smith was sworn into office in January 2015, acknowledged last week that Baldwin has money problems.

"We are cash strapped, there's no doubt about that," Lancelin said.

Located on the west side of St. Mary Parish, Baldwin is one of many of Louisiana's little towns and villages struggling to provide officers with gear and training, said Jim Craft, executive director for the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement.

"The smaller agencies don't have money to do any training or buy equipment," Craft said. "If they can afford to send their people to training, they can't afford to be without them. There's nobody to take their place."

According to a U.S. Census, Baldwin in 2010 had 2,436 residents, a few hundred fewer than in 2000. Census takers also noted the town is getting older, with residents 65 and older making up 16.2 percent of the population compared to 8.8 percent in 2000.

Smith said the loss of residents combined with the downturn in the oil and gas sector, which employs the bulk of workers in central-south Louisiana, has affected the town's income.

Smith also acknowledged the police department has had its own problems over the years, ranging from lower sales tax revenue to theft. According to an investigation after a state audit, a clerk in the mayor's office allegedly stole $63,507 over the course of one year, from mid-2014 to mid-2015.

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Another audit for the same period, the most recent state audit for the town, shows smaller but more numerous problems also have contributed to shortages of money.

One of the findings was that Baldwin overpaid some workers because of a three-hour minimum charged by employees after a normal eight-hour day, which was an "unwritten practice" and not a policy implemented by the Board of Aldermen.

Smith said the town gets help patrolling the town and in other police matters from the Sheriff's Office.

The chief also noted he and Mayor Lancelin entered office only 18 months ago.

"(Lancelin) didn't know what she was getting into," Smith said. "Neither did I."