What will be the safety of small towns that are eliminating their local police departments?

I read this article and was astonished by what I was reading. That many small towns, in America, are dismissing their police officers and relying on their county police and sheriff deputies for police protection. To me, this is another bad sign of towns and cities going bankrupt. But, what about the protection of the people. Most counties do not have the manpower to takeover the many small towns, without their own police protection. Question: so where will the crime rate be heading, when a majority of these small towns are left unadequately protected by their local police?