Staffing problems have meant only half as many traffic tickets as last year were issued in Charlottetown in the first half of 2008, but there will soon be some new sheriffs in town.

Richard Collins expects to have more officers on the street for the rest of the year. (CBC)

Deputy police chief Richard Collins told CBC News Thursday he's been dealing with a serious staff shortage. He's down seven officers because of secondments and various sick leaves, and that's affecting the number of traffic tickets issued.

"We knew that the numbers were going to drop because of that, but we needed people in certain areas that had to function," said Collins.

Half as many tickets have been handed out this year compared to the same period last year.

Collins said traffic enforcement had to slide, for more important priorities like emergency calls and criminal investigations.

Councillor annoyed

Danny Redmond, chair of the city's police committee, was surprised to hear about the problem. His committee meets with the chief and deputy every month, and Redmond said he was never told a staffing shortage would affect the number of tickets issued.

"As a chair and within our committee, we would expect that when we have our meetings that we're briefed on everything. Nothing's left out," he said.

"I expect to be informed, as I know the committee is and council is. So we will definitely be bringing that forward at the committee level."

Collins said a new staffing model will be rolled out next month, that will see more police on the street. He fully expects that for the last half of the year the number of tickets issued will increase.