'Occupy Philly' Costing Police Dept. $33,000 A Day In Overtime
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The "Occupy Philadelphia" protest at City Hall was in its sixth day on Tuesday, with several hundred protesters camping out on Dilworth Plaza.
Meanwhile, the cost of policing the protest is mounting.
The first five days of Occupy Philadelphia cost the police department $164,000 in overtime costs, or roughly $33,000 a day.
Police department spokesman Lt. Ray Evers says that does not take into account officers used on their regular shifts, who were pulled from other assignments.
"We have cops from certain police districts that are covering the protest gathering," he explained. "We also have officers from special units there. So these officers are getting pulled from across the city to work the protest-gatherings."
Evers won't divulge the number of officers involved.
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A spokesman for the mayor says other departments -- such as the Streets Department -- have incurred costs as well for the protest, though figures for that were not yet available.
In New York City, where the "Occupy Wall Street" protest is much larger and of longer duration, the overtime bill is put at nearly $2 million. Officials there say a police academy class may have to be canceled as a result.
Reported by KYW City Hall bureau chief Mike Dunn
