(Springfield, Mo) -- Springfield police will not get federal stimulus money to hire more officers.

The Springfield P.D.got that news Tuesday from the U.S. Department of Justice.  Police Chief Lynn Rowe says that means no relief for budget woes.

The Springfield Police Department is short-staffed, and yesterday a chance at  federal dollars fell through.

"We really had counted on something from that grant," said Rowe.

Springfield police turned to the stimulus to help them get more officers on the street.  Right now the group has officers in the academy, serving in the military and injured, in addition to open spots.

"Our functional loss right now is around 50 officers," Rowe said.

And with fewer officers on the streets, dispatchers could put your call on hold.

"Slow or no response depending on the hour of the day, we'll have to stack calls and just do them as we get to them.  We put them on a priority system.  So that the higher priority calls will get answered first."

The department asked applied for a grant through COPS, a part of the U.S. Department of Justice.  What is commonly know as the federal stimulus package would have funded the grant.  SPD applied for money to hire 25 officers.  The funds pays officer's salaries for 3 years.  Then it's up to the city to start paying.  Rowe says SPD only expected to get money for a few positions, but the department won't get any money.

"It's a little disappointing that Springfield didn't get any because they really, desperately needed some help and it wasn't there for them," Said Bolivar Chief of Police Michael Seibert.

The grant program ranked Springfield 23rd out of 242 Missouri applicants. Only 14 departments will get the money.

"We thought it would be a great stop-get measure for us to get some additional officers on board as we try to resolve the police and fire pension fund," said City of Springfield Spokesperson Louise Whall.

Wednesday Governor Nixon announced millions to keep drugs off the streets.  However, he was not specific about future help from the state for local police departments in need.

"We'll work to continue, as the budgets allow, will continue to help local law enforcement," said Governor Nixon.

He also commented on state dollars already available for police departments.

Now the city will continue to focus on figuring out how to solve the police and fire pension fund.

"The city task force has been working very diligently, they've been on a very aggressive schedule," said Whall. "They have their second town hall meeting scheduled for Thursday night."

Rowe says he probably won't be able to hire any more officers until the city can agree on a fix to the pension.

Springfield is now on a list of police departments that could receive COPS funding in the future.

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