Cincinnati Enquirer...
‘Occupy’ police overtime tab: $128k  
November  15, 2011 

Occupy Cincinnati has cost the city about $128,000 in police overtime, according to the Cincinnati Police Department. 

That accounts for roughly 1,900 overtime hours - plus benefits - accumulated from Oct. 8 through Nov. 7, according to CPD’s Personnel and Finance Management Section. 

Not counting benefits, the tab for overtime manpower has been $91,000. That compares with $6,800 in police overtime for President Barack Obama’s September speech near the Brent Spence Bridge and $135,000 for dignitary protection during the last presidential election. 

Cincinnati Police Capt. Doug Wiesman, who helped plan much of the police response to the protesters, says the department doesn’t like having to pay overtime, but is happy with the result. 

“You’ve been watching the television, haven’t you? You’ve seen what has happened in other cities,” Wiesman said Friday, referring to incidents that escalated to violence, damage and police raids in other cities. “We spent $91,000 but everything has been peaceful in Cincinnati. Is it not worth it?” 

But a leader of the Occupy Cincinnati movement said it was “beyond a waste of money” – because the protesters were peaceful. 

“The fact that the city ever – and especially in a budget crisis – would spend $128,000 to tell citizens they can’t speak up in their own space is absurd. It’s criminal itself,” said Josh Spring, a member of the local Occupy movement and Executive Director of the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless. 

The police plan has required a mixture of on-duty and off-duty officers because the department can’t dedicate all its on-duty officers to monitoring Occupy Cincinnati, Wiesman said. 

Cincinnati police always plan for overtime; this year they had roughly $266,000 set aside. That money was used up even before Occupy Cincinnati formed. But the police were able to cover Occupy Cincinnati-related overtime thanks to a surplus in the another police fund, said Ella Topham, director of the CPD’s finance management section. 

The movement – an extension of Occupy Wall Street in New York – started with a march of several hundred people around Downtown Oct. 8. That march and the marches and rallies held by the group every Saturday since have required a police presence, Wiesman said. And when police chief James Craig ordered the protesters be cited, about 15 officers needed to do that every night, Wiesman said. 

“Each time we don’t know what to expect,” Wiesman said. “You have to make sure you have resources in place and you’re prepared. Was this going to become turning over cars, like we saw at Penn State? … A crowd can turn fast and when you’re facing a crowd like that, it’s scary.”

After roughly a week of citations, members of Occupy Cincinnati allowed themselves to be arrested three nights in a row – two nights in Piatt Park and then on Fountain Square. 

After that third night of arrests the group decided not to occupy any city space past marked closing times, while they wait for municipal and federal court cases to play out. 

This week Municipal Court Judge David Stockdale sent a letter stating the misdemeanor trespassing charges against the protesters could be dismissed because there’s no reference to violating park rules being a crime in the city’s code. If he dismisses the charges the cases could be tied up in appeals for some time. 

A federal case claiming the city’s actions violate the protesters First Amendment right to free speech and peaceful assembly is also pending in court. 

Spring understands police must consider public safety, but members of Occupy Cincinnati have vowed and kept a promise to remain peaceful, he said, lining up for citations and sitting down for hassle-free arrests. 

“I run the blame up the chain to the politicians who answer to the business people,” Spring said. “All it does is further prove that citizens need to take the control back.” 

Occupy Cincinnati continues to meet every day at 6 p.m. in Piatt Park, Spring said, where they are ironing out goals for the future and arming themselves with information that strengthens their fight to put people before profits and hold corporations responsible for the damage Occupy groups believe they have done to the country and the world. 

“We believe we affected the (recent) election and are influencing conversations around the water cooler,” Spring said. “Now we’re asking, ‘Where are we going to direct this massive amount of power.’” 

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