No Fed Dough for BSO

The Broward Sheriff's Office has plenty of adversity to face -- a rogue deputy sexually preying on illegal immigrants, not to mention that new reality show about their female cops featuring a mullet-headed undercover mother -- and now they'll have to forge ahead without the $47 million in federal stimulus money they were hoping to get.

Sheriff Al Lamberti had applied for the money through the COPS Hiring Recovery Program Grant to help pay the salaries of 177 deputy sheriffs, many of whom may have to be let go without receiving extra funds.

"I am extremely disappointed and, along with the executive staff, I am researching all avenues to offset this lack of funding," Lamberti wrote in a July 31 e-mail to employees, according to the Miami Herald.

COPS had $1 billion dollars out of the $787 billion stimulus package to work with, but received requests for over $8 billion in funds. Law enforcement agencies were rated on a number of criteria, including crime rate and fiscal health.

The BSO received a score of 92.3 percent, a decent score but well below many other Florida agencies, including the Miami Police Department, which garnered a score of 99.3 percent. Miami will get about $11 million in federal funds.

The Miami-Dade Police Department, with a score of 83.8 percent, was also left out of the cash loop.

Lamberti is under pressure to trim $46 million off the budget, and has warned that if he can't make a new budget deal happen, several deputies will lose their jobs.