Police overtime drives cost of Occupy Philadelphia

The cost of extra police to monitor Occupy Philadelphia protesters and eventually evict them has been tallied.  

Budget Director Rebecca Rhynhart gave the numbers.

“Through Wednesday we’ve spent a little bit over $1 million in extra costs so the majority of that is police overtime, about $930,000 of that is overtime, so that is the cost through Wednesday,” said Rhynhart.  “A big portion of that is in the last week, with all the activity that has taken place, the cost was about $400,000 in the last week alone.”

Unlike snowstorms, where the city can seek federal or state aid to help pay for costs, Philadelphia doesn’t have hope of getting reimbursed for these expenses–with one exception.  Occupy Philadelphia has pledged to pay for the electricity it used to power its technology tent.  A spokesperson for the mayor says his staff is still tallying up that bill.