Savannah-Chatham police Chief Willie Lovett said today that no funds for his department appear to be in jeopardy because of the potential federal funding sequestration.
But any potential reduction in federal funds, he said, could have considerable effects on future crime fighting.
Lovett said his office was advised by the city’s finance department that any potential sequestration is not expected to affect funding on existing federal grants.
Savannah-Chatham police, as all public police departments, utilizes funding from federal grants for a number of operations and works closely with federal agencies. Those agencies could find their own operations affected.
No police grant applications currently await federal funding, but Lovett has instructed his staff to be knowledgeable of opportunities and to apply for funding when it is available and can help, a spokesman said.
“Crime fighting is an expensive endeavor and criminals rarely reduce their operations,” Lovett said.
“Like all law enforcement agencies, we depend on federal funding where we can and we respect and benefit from our relationships with varied federal agencies. Hopefully the interruption in federal funding will be avoided.”
To read more about what other agencies might face sequestration cuts, check out Thursday's edition of the the Savannah Morning News.