New York, NY —

Mayor Bloomberg says he's frustrated that New York City is not getting federal money to help expand its police department. The Justice Department says it's doling out the $1 billion in aid to cities with higher crime rates and bigger budget problems. The mayor says he will not let the lost funding opportunity affect policing.

BLOOMBERG: We will keep a police force the size that we think is necessary to protect the public and no bigger. We can't afford anything bigger than that, but we should certainly not have under any circumstances a police department smaller than that.

The NYPD had requested enough funding to hire 2,000 new officers. The number of officers is expected to shrink to as low as 33,000 by next year, the lowest since before the terror attacks in 2001.