The Suffolk County Police Department nixed its highway patrol unit Monday as the county seeks to cut costs and shift the responsibility to the state.

County sheriff?s deputies will man the Long Island Expressway and Sunrise Highway and the 44 highway patrol officers will be redeployed to local precincts and roads. Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy says the ultimate goal is to have state troopers patrol the state-owned roads.

?It costs us $42,000 less for a sheriff?s deputy than it does for a police officer,? Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy says. ?That's the type of thing you need to do if you want to freeze taxes, which we intend to do in 2009.?

Levy says the move will save the county $4.5 million in 2009 and more in the future. Suffolk County PBA President Jeff Frayler says it comes at the price of the public?s safety.

Suffolk County Sheriff Vincent DeMarco insists his team is well prepared though. He and Levy hope the fix is temporary.

The county remains in a stalemate with Gov. David Paterson over the issue.