Since the October 1 birth of the original Occupy Seattle encampment at Westlake Park, Seattle has spent $529,609 on police and park staff overtime, along with other costs related to monitoring the camp, according to a public disclosure request filed by Seattle PI reporter Vanessa Ho. The full breakdown of expenses, which covers October 1 thru November 25, is posted here.
Via PI.com:
The latest figure prompted McGinn to say:
âPreservation of public safety â making sure that people can protest, can express themselves, can do so in a way thatâs safe to others and protects the rights of overs â thatâs important to get it right.â
Jesse Mulert, an organizer with Occupy Seattle, said the group â as taxpayers â wants a âbreakdown and justificationâ of the cityâs expenses.
âHow is it that that 50-300 peacefully assembled citizens warrant such a concentration of resources?â