Posted on 03/29/2008 10:22:23 AM PDT by USMC Brat
Department monitors increasingly raucous rallies at Marine center BERKELEY — In the last six weeks, the city of Berkeley has spent more than $210,000 on police overtime to try and keep the peace during protests at the U.S. Marine Corps recruiting center and Old City Hall, a police official said Thursday. Police spokeswoman Sgt. Mary Kusmiss said police department overtime from Feb. 12 to March 22 was $210,814.13. The city spent roughly $93,000 Feb. 12 during an all-day protest at Old City Hall that drew about 2,000 anti-war protestors and military supporters, she said. By comparison, the 186-officer department spends between $2,500 and $3,500 per week on overtime during a normal week, Kusmiss said. At that rate, typical overtime spending for six weeks ranges from $15,000 to $21,000. On Jan. 29, the Berkeley City Council called the downtown Berkeley military recruitment center "uninvited and unwelcome intruders," sparking national outrage. Amid heavy criticism and threats by Republican lawmakers to withdraw federal funding, council members on Feb. 12 moderated their position, saying they oppose the war in Iraq but support the troops. Rallies before the council's vote drew thousands to downtown Berkeley. Since then, CodePink, The World Can't Wait: Drive out the Bush Regime and other groups have continued to hold weekly protests at the Marine recruiting center. Police have continued to monitor those protests, which in recent weeks have become increasingly raucous. Kusmiss said anywhere from three to 80 officers have been working overtime during the various rallies, with the most officers on Feb. 12. On Monday, police arrested four CodePink protesters during a rally to mark the 4,000 U.S. troop death in Iraq. Kusmiss said police are needed at all types of demonstrations in Berkeley. "We feel it's important to have some measure of presence at any type of protest or demonstration," Kusmiss said, adding that the department is worried about the "co-mingling" of CodePink with the groups the World Can't Wait and the Answer Coalition, which police say, unlike CodePink, chain themselves to buildings and purposely antagonize police officers. On Thursday, Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CodePink, said there is no a need for so many police in front of the recruiting station. "It's a bit of an overkill," she said. "I don't know who they are protecting." Kusmiss, however, said the protests often attract others with differing points of view. "Having (police) presence ensures that peace and community safety will be maintained around the Marine recruiting center," she said. Benjamin said the weekly protests will continue until the recruitment center leaves town. "If people are concerned they should put pressure on the (recruiting center) landlord to break the lease," Benjamin said. "The recruiters are the ones who should have never come in to Berkeley. If whomever in the city wants to stop the protests, they should encourage the recruiters to leave. Democracy comes at a price." Meanwhile, a group of golfing war veterans is so miffed at the Berkeley City Council for taking a swing at the Marines that they are relocating their annual fundraising golf tournament outside Berkeley. The Lafayette War Veterans Golf Committee will move its third annual golf tournament from Tilden Park Golf Course in Berkeley to a still-undecided location, the group announced Thursday. The tournament is scheduled for Sept. 22. The Lafayette War Veterans golf committee has raised more than $60,000 the last two years to help people who have been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan and are being treated at the Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center at the Veterans Administration hospital in Palo Alto, tournament organizers said.
Marine Recruiting Protests Cost Berkeley PD $211K
/snip/
Kusmiss said the money to pay for the nearly $211,000 in police overtime costs will come from the city's general fund, not from the Police Department's budget.
Kusmiss said that in addition to police overtime costs, the city has other overtime costs associated with the protests for services by other departments.
She said the Public Health and Environmental Health departments both have had extra overtime costs, but she didn't have the specific numbers.
Berkley could save a lot of money by just stepping out of the way and letting the Marines take care of the problem themselves as they see fit.
Ping
Another confirmation that it would be prudent for the Berkeley City Council to rescind thier Jan 29 resolutions!
It kinda make you want to see more activities happening in Beserkeley. Each code pinko is costing the city thousands of dollars.
This may even qualify as a “Dog, meet your fleas” moment.
and if you think the cost of cops is something;
just ask the local businesses what they have lost...
If ya wanna get a Lefties’ attention, hit ‘em in the wallet!
They’ll scream like pigs every time...
Send the bill to “Code Pink”.
Other cities that have been caught spending huge sums for police prescence at demostrations have made new in sending the bill to the agitators involved. They should do it and let it go through the court system for publicity and warning to all agitator groups. It will then stop.
I like how they total patriots and traitors into one lump sum. Must mean the America haters were outnumbered.
Send him the bill.
Her—Medea Benjamin..
Wanna bet these same bozos wanting the military out of their town were protesting because the National Guard wasn’t in New Orleans sooner. Some folks only get up in the morning to see what they can whine about that day.
Well, haven’t seen a picture to verify that yet. Of course with these it sometimes takes a DNA test.
Send the bill to Code Pink.
Are you kidding? These Chardonnay swilling, Tofu munching leftist loonies” on the city council waved all of Code Pinko’s protest fees. IOW the City Council put CP up to this.
I say let ‘em eat it and when they go broke they can work for free(like that will ever happen).
The tournament is scheduled for Sept. 22.
Reminds me of a friend of mine who has always said:
"Pigs are in the Parlor with the money's green."
Ain't that the truth!
Most Excellent...
I have no problem with the moonbats of Berkely bankrupting themselves.
Acting like morons seems to have a real world cost.
“I say let ‘em eat it and when they go broke they can work for free(like that will ever happen).”
Yes, and I hope they KEEP RIGHT ON eating it too!
Until they remove their favoritism from the pinko’s they should have to pay and pay and pay for their decision.
mmmkay... the picture I pasted over from the article has since been removed. Sorry to everyone.
There are countless pics of Medea Benjamin on Google Image Results.
Medea gives all of us born in 1952 a bad rep!
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