Atlanta taxpayers will pick up a $451,691 tab for more than two weeks of tug-of-war between the city and Occupy Atlanta protesters, with nearly three-quarters going to police overtime.
The cost estimate, released Wednesday by Mayor Kasim Reed’s office, covers the period between Oct. 7-25, leading up to the day before police officers arrested 52 people for staying beyond Woodruff Park’s 11 p.m. closing time. Prior to that, Reed had extended, and then revoked, an executive order allowing the protesters to stay in the downtown park around the clock.
“That costs a bit more, but I would rather have that expense than be ill-prepared,” Reed said. “At the end of the day, the overall expenditure by the city of Atlanta will compare favorably to other major American cities that are dealing with Occupy protesters.
“I think the appropriate measure for us was, we had no one injured. We also treated people in a way that was humane and respectful.”
In a statement released Thursday, Occupy Atlanta said, "Today we were all dismayed by Mayor Kasim Reed’s claim that our nonviolent demonstration against corporate greed and economic inequities cost the city over $400,000. This is, of course, a factual error. The truth is the mayor ... spent the people’s money on an extreme excessive police presence that rivals any big-budget Hollywood production to manage several hundred peaceful demonstrators that wanted nothing more than public space to assemble and air grievances."
The group also took issue with Reed's statements concerning arrests.
"During one of his many TV interviews this week, Mayor Reed also claimed that the 12 women arrested were arrested by female officers; this is a flat-out lie. We can’t wrap our minds around why he would make something like that up when so many cameras can confirm this falsehood."
On Thursday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson is scheduled to meet at noon with Occupy Atlanta members, who have since relocated to the Peachtee-Pine shelter, according to Joe Beasley, southern regional director of the Rainbow/ PUSH Coalition. Beasley said the civil rights leader is in town for a conference.
The Woodruff Park arrests in the early morning of Oct. 26 involved a large show of force, with at least 150 officers deployed. Motorcycle patrols, horse patrols, officers in riot gear and a helicopter fly-over were involved.
Reed said sending police into Woodruff Park in full-scale mode was a wiser approach than going with a smaller contingent.
The operation was minuscule compared to the overall budgets of the police ($203 million), fire rescue ($101 million), corrections ($28.8 million), and parks ($31.5 million) departments. But it still raised questions about whether the city was being frugal with taxpayers’ cash.
From the beginning, Occupy Atlanta said the expanded police presence around the park was an unnecessary waste of money.
Yet the tally could increase, with Occupy Atlanta vowing to come back to the park on Saturday. Reed has said everyone is welcome in city parks during normal business hours.
On Monday, Reed said he would be willing to meet with Occupy Atlanta leaders. But the mayor said there will be no more allowances for after-hours protests, signaling that there could be more arrests.
Reed has publicly defended his decision to arrest protesters after a hip-hop concert was held briefly without a permit and what he described as an escalation. Once the situation became tense -- notably the arrival of a man toting an AK-47, apparently in support of the protesters’ right to remain in Woodruff Park -- something had to be done, Reed said.
“I don’t get do-overs with people with AK-47 assault rifles,” Reed said Tuesday night.
Police overtime cost $345,110. Other large expenditures were more than $16,000 for food and supplies for police officers and more than $64,000 for overtime for corrections officers.
The police department’s mobile command center cost $3,600.
“We have the capacity within our budget to pay the costs associated with the Occupy movement,” Reed said.
Staff writer Shelia Poole contributed to this article.
About the Author
