Cambridge city officials received more than $160,000 last year for conference attendance and training, according to a recent breakdown produced by the city's budget office.

Most departments spent the money allocated to them in the 1992-1993 budget to send department heads to one conference or trip, said Louis A. DePasquale, the city's budget officer.

"The city manager's policy for the larger departments is one conference per year. Of course, that's not carved in stone," DePasquale said.

However, many department officials said they felt confined by the relatively small budget which allowed them to attend only one conference.

Cambridge Hospital, which received $64,000, the largest budget allocation, spent the majority of these funds on employee training.

John G. O'Brien, the director of Cambridge Hospital, said the hospital spends approximately 95 percent of its allocation on employee training and education.

"We pay for employees' education with a caveat that they need to pay us back with service," O'Brien said.

O'Brien said the hospital will increase the money it spends on training in the next year as part of its effort toward "Continuing Quality Improvement."

Officials from the Cambridge Police Department, whose travel and training allocation increased from $13,000 to $25,000 last year, said they believe the funding is still inadequate.

Frank Pasquarello, the department's public information officer said, "Twenty-five thousand dollars for travel and training for a $20 million budget like [that of] Cambridge police is far less than most private businesses would allow."

Pasquerello said the department uses funds allocated for training for the continuing education of the city's 240 police officers.

"We're constantly sending detectives to school," Pasquerello said. "To run a professional police department, you need professional training."

Officer Raymond Santille, who oversees the department's finances, said the increase in travel and training is not enough to satisfy Cambridge's Police Commissioner Perry L. Anderson.

Santille warned, "Don't say that [the budget is large] to the commissioner. He thinks it's too small."

Santille said the department's expenditure is a combination of routine, local training for officers and trips to conferences and seminars.