SALINAS, Calif. -- The U.S. Department of Justice said if we fall off the so-called "fiscal cliff," there would be no impact to past and current grants. But it would have an impact on the overall number of grants available.
With budgets tight, one of the ways the Salinas Police Department hires officers is through a federal grant called "COPS," or Community Oriented Policing Services.
The department wants to hire 10 more officers, but without the much-needed grant money, that might not happen.
USDOJ said it's hard to predict just what would happen if we go off the fiscal cliff.
Over the last several years, the police department lost about 40 officers due to budget cuts.
The feds said they're currently looking at a number of possible budget scenarios and since those haven't been figure out yet, they don't know what would actually be cut.
Once the budget rolls around next year, USDOJ said it can then figure out how much money will come into its office, then determine how much it can help different agencies.
It says it has a strong relationship with Salinas and the surrounding area, and hopes to be able to partner up again.
