March 26, 2003
Police overtime cost $75,000 By By DAWN HOBBS The Santa Barbara Police Department spent about $25,000 per day on overtime to monitor three days of antiwar protests last week. Prior to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, it cost the city about $1,000 in overtime to patrol each of the Saturday peace marches, which typically drew 800 to 2,000 people. But once the first bomb dropped March 19 and demonstrators responded the following day with stepped-up civil disobedience, the Police Department put more cops on the street. Authorities, citing security reasons, would not say how many more officers were deployed. "Last Thursday, we deployed significantly more officers because we were concerned that not only would we have a larger crowd but one that would be more agitated, rather than peaceful, like all the other crowds," said Lt. Mike Aspland. That night, several hundred people marched up Carrillo Street and attempted to block a freeway offramp to express their opposition to the war. Earlier, some of the same protesters blocked the Highway 101 onramp at Milpas Street and several walked onto the freeway, shutting down southbound traffic for a time. Police prepared for similar acts Friday evening by forming lines blocks away from the ramps to deter protesters. On Saturday, the police approach was even more orchestrated, with police lines at several key intersections along the route of the march. In the six months leading up to last week's protests, the department paid out $26,000 for overtime, Lt. Aspland said. As of Tuesday, it was unclear how the city would pay for last week's $75,000 of protest-related police overtime. "We're in the process of working on it," said Lt. Aspland. "It's just too early to say what will happen. We're going over the budget now to see how we can move money around if we need to." Authorities hope the federal government will help cover such expenses. The last six months of Saturday protests helped police prepare for the bigger events. "We've been planning for this for some time," said Lt. Aspland. "We staff accordingly to make sure they can express themselves and at the same time we can ensure public safety. As we get more information about any other protests, we'll continue to staff accordingly." |
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