District police have spent more than $1 million monitoring Occupy DC protests, and Mayor Vincent Gray and other officials say the city’s patience with the two-month-old demonstrations is wearing thin.
The Metropolitan Police Department alone spent about $1.3 million on Occupy DC as of Nov. 29, including $74,000 for overtime pay. But that total doesn’t include services provided by other city agencies, according to the D.C. Council’s Judiciary Committee. It also doesn’t incorporate the cost of the massive police presence required at two Occupy protests last week, including the arrest of 31 protesters who built a wooden structure in the McPherson Square park and 62 others who blocked K Street intersections during the evening rush hour.
Those escalating protests could be the last straw for city officials, who until now have gone to lengths to express solidarity with the protesters. Gray told NBC-4 during a taping Thursday that local residents are “increasingly losing their patience” with Occupy DC and protesters are “infringing” on District businesses. He pledged to protect protesters rights, but said the city “will not tolerate the breaking of the law.”
Greater Washington Board of Trade CEO Jim Dinegar, speaking to WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi, took a harder line, saying the Occupy protests at Freedom Plaza and McPherson Square repel tourists and cause problems for local businesses.
“The District … is being abused by the occupiers,” Dinegar said. “There’s not a city in the country except for the Washington, D.C., area that has accommodated these protesters to this extent. McPherson Square will be a toxic waste dump for the next couple of years.”
<p><span class=”BodyCopy”>He called on the National Park Service and the U.S. Park Police, which control both Freedom Plaza and McPherson Square, to crack down on the protesters. </span></p> <p><span class=”BodyCopy”>But Park Police spokesman Sgt. David Schlosser said police “strongly support the public’s right to exercise their First Amendment rights,” and have no plans to evict the protesters even though those at McPherson Square lack the permits needed to use the park.</span></p> <meta http-equiv=”content-type” content=”text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1″/><title/><table style=”float: right; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: aliceblue; padding: 5px 0pt; margin: 5px 15px 5px 0pt; width: 290px; font-family: arial; font-size: 11px; line-height: 12px; border: 1px solid #efe1ab; box-shadow: 5px 5px 5px #cccccc;” border=”0″ cellpadding=”0″ cellspacing=”0″><tbody><tr style=”font-size:14px;line-height:15px;color:darkred;”><td><strong>Examiner Archives</strong></td> </tr><tr style=”font-size:12px;”><td> <li><a href=”http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/capital-land/2011/12/three-occupy-dc-protesters-begin-hunger-strike-district-voting-rights/198″>Three Occupy DC protesters begin hunger strike for District voting rights (12/8/11)</a></li> </td> </tr><tr style=”font-size:12px;”><td> <li><a href=”http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/dc/2011/12/mcpherson-businesses-getting-fed-occupy-dc/1980756″>McPherson Square businesses getting fed up with Occupy D.C. (12/6/11)</a></li> </td> </tr><tr style=”font-size:12px;”><td> <li><a href=”http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/dc/2011/11/district-spending-22000-day-occupy”>District spending $22,000 a day on Occupy (11/23/11)</a></li> </td> </tr></tbody></table>
