The Albert Lea Police Department announced Friday it did not receive a U.S. Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services grant, which would have given funding for one city officer for the next three years.

The grants, which are part of the COPS Hiring Program, are designed to advance community policing by addressing the full-time sworn officer needs of state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies nationwide.

About $298 million is being appropriated in grant funding for the program in fiscal year 2010.

Grants were awarded all around the country, with only three entities in Minnesota receiving grants: the St. Cloud Police Department, the Annadale Police Department and the 1854 Authority.

Albert Lea Police Chief Dwaine Winkels said he is disappointed to hear the news, especially with the uncertain budget forecast on the state level.

“So far the state has balanced their budgets on the backs of local governments,” Winkels said. “State spending has continued to climb while local government aid has continued to decrease.”

He said his officers who are low in seniority are asking what is going to happen to their jobs, and he does not know what to tell them.

“We are trying to avoid layoffs at all costs,” he added.

The Albert Lea Police Department applied for the grant in 2009 as well, without any luck.

The discussion about whether to eliminate the position of one officer was at the forefront of budget discussions in 2009 after the Albert Lea City Council had to cut more than $1 million from the city’s budget and the Police Department could not find grant funding to save the position.

In the end, the council approved the transfer of $35,000 from the city’s contingencies fund to the police department budget in order to prevent one full-time officer from being laid off. The transfer matched $35,000 in concessions made by the police department, which included a combination of unpaid leave, a reduction in the uniform allowance and a reduction in hourly employees’ holiday pay, among other things, to keep the officer in place.

During preliminary budget talks this year, Winkels has asked that the council consider reinstating this position in its 2010 budget.

He proposed to eliminate a half-time community service officer — at an estimated value of about $37,000 — and then reinstate the full-time officer. This leaves a gap of about $33,000.

Winkels said he has several officers close to retirement, and he envisions a couple leaving through attrition in the next couple years.