Hartford - Facing a no confidence vote by troopers, state police leaders are denying allegations that dispatch center consolidations and staffing level decisions are jeopardizing the safety of troopers and the public.

The Connecticut State Police Union says the dispatch consolidations could lead to some barracks being closed on nights and weekends and already have resulted in some 911 calls going unanswered. When barracks are closed, troopers have to drive farther to drop off prisoners at open barracks or jails, which reduces patrol and emergency response times, the union says.

"They are implementing policies that will affect the safety of our members and the safety of the public," said union president Andrew Matthews.

This year, state police consolidated the dispatch centers of barracks in Litchfield, Southbury and Canaan in northwestern Connecticut into one center in Litchfield. Each center had one dispatcher and one trooper around the clock. Now, the Litchfield center has three dispatchers and one trooper around the clock, resulting in a decrease of two troopers answering the phones per shift, Matthews said.

A similar dispatch consolidation involving four troops in eastern Connecticut is also being planned, which Matthews says will result in similar problems. That consolidation involves dispatching and barracks in Danielson, Montville, Colchester and Tolland.

Troopers are being asked to vote no confidence in Reuben Bradford, commissioner of the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, and Col. Danny Stebbins, state police commander. Ballots sent out this month to more than 1,000 state police union members are due Monday afternoon. The results are expected to be announced Tuesday.

Bradford and Stebbins denied the union allegations in a joint statement sent to The Associated Press but said they respected the union leaders' right to express their opinions. They say the consolidations will save money and increase efficiency.

"The commissioner and their colonel along with their staffs work very hard each day to maximize current resources and enhance public safety," they said. "As the governor often states, 'change is difficult.'"

Asked about the union's claims about dispatch center consolidations, Bradford and Stebbins said, "They're wrong. Troopers arrest, transport and process prisoners. That is the nature of the job. In that regard, nothing changes with consolidated dispatch."

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is supporting Bradford and Stebbins, and a spokesman said Matthews' claims are "factually incorrect."

"Commissioner Bradford and Col. Stebbins have been pushing a lot of change, and change is hard," Malloy spokesman Andrew Doba said. "But the work they're doing to modernize the department and improve public safety is long overdue."

While cities and larger towns have police departments, swaths of rural areas in the state rely on state police troopers for public safety. Town officials in northwestern Connecticut have complained about resident troopers being gone for hours while transporting prisoners, The Register Citizen in Torrington recently reported.

State police officials say they're considering making arrangements with state Judicial Branch marshals or correctional officers to transport prisoners to take the burden off troopers.

Matthews said some problems with the Litchfield dispatch consolidation have included a trooper being injured in a fight last month because he couldn't get backup, and the death of a pedestrian last month on Route 8 in Waterbury after a dispatching delay of more than 20 minutes.

The union also claims that inadequate staffing levels have made for more dangerous conditions for troopers and the public for years. At the governor's request, the legislature this year eliminated the 1,248-trooper minimum staffing level that was set after a woman was murdered in Chaplin in 1998 while calling 911. The nearest trooper was 18 minutes away.

Malloy's aides have said the minimum staffing level was arbitrary, and a new review will be done to determine what an adequate staffing level will be.

The union's no confidence vote is a symbolic action with no legal force.