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Occupy Philadelphia costs city $400,000 in police surveillance

The city has spent more than $400,000 in police costs to deal with the Occupy Philadelphia protest on the west side of City Hall, Nutter administration officials estimated Tuesday.

On a sunnier day, the Occupy Philly protest outside City Hall in Dilworth Plaza.  October 10, 2011   (SARAH J. GLOVER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
On a sunnier day, the Occupy Philly protest outside City Hall in Dilworth Plaza. October 10, 2011 (SARAH J. GLOVER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)Read more

The city has spent more than $400,000 in police costs to deal with the Occupy Philadelphia protest on the west side of City Hall, Nutter administration officials estimated Tuesday.

The figure includes $164,000 in police overtime through the first five days of the protest - the bulk of the city's out-of-pocket costs - and an additional $237,000 for the plainclothes and uniformed officers stationed at Dilworth Plaza and other City Hall locations on their regular shifts.

"In one sense the added cost is the overtime number, but there is also a deployment issue - the officers are here instead of other places," said Mayor Nutter's spokesman, Mark McDonald.

Now entering its seventh day, the demonstration has drawn several hundred people or more to City Hall during peak periods each day. The number of tents that provide overnight accommodations increased to about 100 from 80 over the weekend.

City budget director Rebecca Rhynhart - now initiating an effort to pare about $47 million from the budget to compensate for three months of weaker-than-expected revenue - said she would ask all city departments to provide reports on what the demonstration is costing them.

The bulk of the expense comes from the Police Department, but McDonald identified several minor items, including daily trash pickups and a hookup to City Hall's electrical system allowing demonstrators to recharge computers, telephones, and other electronic equipment and keep their website updated.

"They will ultimately receive a bill for the electricity they're using . . . and they've agreed to pay it," McDonald said.

So far, the protesters have had to pay only $20 for an open-ended demonstration permit, required when more than 75 people gather at a public place. Some talk of staying indefinitely.

Police were a major presence as the demonstration began Thursday, with arm-banded plainclothes officers on the scene at Dilworth Plaza, dozens of uniformed officers stationed on the other side of City Hall, and additional officers and vehicles parked within several blocks.

The police presence has been reduced, as the protesters have cooperated fully with city officials to the point of obeying traffic signals as they cross the street at 15th and Market Streets, carrying signs and soliciting honks from like-minded drivers.

McDonald said city officials had been talking to the organizers about a couple of concerns: cardboard and other combustible material close to City Hall, viewed as a potential fire hazard, and the use of trees and railings for several primitive dwellings, one made of cardboard and tarpaulins.

"We're asking that everything be self-supporting," McDonald said. "We also recommended that they use some portable toilets. I believe they're interested in that."

He said the city's costs would change as the protest went on. "At a minimum, there will be judgments about deployment on a daily basis," McDonald said. "Certainly, with some thought to the fiscal implications. But the bottom line is to maintain public safety. For the [police] commissioner, that's job number one."

The Nutter administration has taken flak for several years for trying to charge major parade organizers for police, setup, and cleanup costs.

City Council adopted an ordinance exempting the parades from police expenses, and U.S. Rep. Bob Brady organized a fund to cover four years' worth of setup and cleanup, with financial help from philanthropist H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest and the late cheesesteak impresario Joey Vento.

"The difference is that these are First Amendment-driven matters as opposed to a parade," McDonald said. "They have a right to express themselves under provisions of the Constitution, and we simply don't, as a matter of policy, attempt to charge citizens for their free-speech rights."