By Rachel Lippmann
St. Louis – The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department has received enough federal money to prevent 105 officers from losing their jobs.
The department generally employed about 1380 officers. But the city's budget for fiscal year 2010 provided funding for just 1295 officers. The department was able to cut 37 positions through attrition, and the $8.7 million in federal Community-Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, grants will prevent any further job losses.
The department had requested nearly $18 million in federal money, but officials said it still has one of the best- officer-to-citizen ratios in the country.