Small town police depts

Do small town police departments ever get as small as just a sheriff and a deputy?

What happens on the night shift?

Does the department just close down until morning?

Is there no one on duty? And the cops are just on call until something comes up that requires their attention?

if the town isn't large enough to support it's own police force then they rely on the Sheriffs office. Which is supported by the entire county, that staff would be on 24/7.

As previously said, most small towns (under 500 people) rely on the sheriff's office. They usually have to pay to have the sheriff run patrols through the town several times a week. Some towns will hire their own deputy. The deputy will go on patrol several times a week and otherwise respond to calls when they happen like a volunteer fireman. Suspects are then taken to the county jail or any other mutual aid setup they may have.

R28

Due to economic pressures, many small towns have eliminated the deputies and now only have a Sheriff. At least the majority of small town crime is domestic or mischievous. So policing is less in the nature of deterance and more along the lines of investiation. Anything serious or say, a hot pursuit bank robbery, and the lone sheriff has his neighboring law men, as well as state highway patrol and even a state bureau of investigation.

Try these good law enforcement sources or go to The Advice Squad(a police advice website).

floridatraveler.com/travel_articles/police.htm

Note that this doesn't mean this is the world's smallest police department.

I worked as a reporter in Missouri for a while and some of the counties - the ones that are just about emptying out anyway - rely on the state troopers for their main law enforcement.