SCHENECTADY — Instead of chasing down speeders and checking for seatbelts, traffic cops may start responding to emergency calls as the police department tries to get to crimes faster, Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett said Wednesday.

The department is also ratcheting up its shoe leather patrols, with Assistant Chief Jack Falvo assigning officers to walk troubled areas when calls slow down each day.

And for the first time, the department’s overtime is on track to come in under budget this year.

City Council members were pleased by the reports at Wednesday’s police budget review session, but finance committee Chairman Mark Blanchfield immediately questioned whether the 2009 overtime budget could be reduced. He is hoping to shave enough money from the $76.5 million city budget to erase the proposed 2.9 percent tax increase.

Wednesday’s budget review session was the first of three — on Monday at 4:30 p.m. the council will look for reductions in the Office of General Services budget.

They may not find any places to cut in the $14.7 million police budget. New Chief Mark Chaires asked for an increase in spending so he can hire consultants to make his staff more efficient.

At a cost of $60,000 to $70,000, consultants would study the department’s drug-crime investigations and “look for defects,” Chaires said.

“They reduce the process for mapping drug crimes,” he added, arguing that his officers would be more efficient under the new process. New York City and Phoenix saw significant improvements in their drug investigations after undergoing the same study, he said.

Councilman Gary McCarthy, chairman of the public safety committee, strongly supported the expense as well as $50,000 for better crime-scene cameras.

“I think these are critical things we need,” he said. “In the current climate we cannot increase the staffing to what I consider appropriate. It’s unfortunate. This will free officers up, in my mind, to do other work.”

Blanchfield wasn’t as eager.

“I don’t disagree, I’m just looking at how to do it cheaper,” he said.

BENNETT’S VIEW

But Bennett said he should actually add far more money. He wants the consultants to study the entire department, although Chaires has asked for only enough money to study the special investigations unit, formerly known as the vice squad.

The biggest change in the department will come at no additional cost — Chaires and Bennett are reassigning to patrol as many officers as possible, in hopes of reducing the time it takes to respond to crimes. McCarthy says the quicker response will also lead to a better solve rate.

No decisions have been made yet, but Bennett said he expects the reassignments to occur by the end of the year.

“[Chaires] and I discuss it every day. We don’t have a consensus yet,” Bennett said.

He also said the traffic division is the most likely target for the reassignments, arguing that the other divisions — administrative and detective — can’t be reduced.

“We don’t have a lot of people in an administrative-type role,” he said.

Every day, five to six officers work in the traffic division. Bennett said their jobs could probably be shared by other officers, allowing most of the traffic cops to focus on patrols.

“Maybe we couldn’t move them all,” Bennett said, but added that he would consider it a significant improvement if most could be added to the daily patrols.

In the meantime, he and Chaires have found a way to add walking patrols without adding staff. Every day, Falvo reviews staffing levels and call volume and then assigns officers to walk certain areas for part of their shift.

“They’re walking every day. The troopers are walking too,” Bennett said. “They’re assigned to locations based on what occurred the 24 hours prior.” State police are in the city to enhance security under a state program.

Officers are already reaping the benefits of the change. They’re getting more crime tips, Bennett said. That was one of the reasons he added the walking patrols.

“Number one, the visibility — people see them. Hopefully, that will encourage communication,” Bennett said.