'Occupy Denver' Takes Toll On Police Resources & Money
DENVER (CBS4) - The Occupy Denver protesters say they aren't going anywhere it's taking a toll on the Denver police budget.
Officers have been involved in several skirmishes with Occupy protesters. That means a lot of resources centered on just one small section of town. Denver Police Department has had to move officers from other areas because of those clashes.
Police say they're going to continue enforcing the law.
"The bottom line is the rules are the rules," Sonny Jackson with Denver police said.
Enforcing those rules is costing the taxpayers, and it's not just the hundreds of thousands of dollars a response like that costs.
"We basically had to move resources immediately this past weekend in a hurried fashion to Civic Center Park for the protection of everyone involved," Jackson said. "So that meant that we didn't have resources to cover things that might have been going on in other areas."
Depending on the call, response times are affected.
"So if there's something going on that's a property crime, that may not be picked up as quickly," Jackson said.
"In my opinion it was completely unnecessary," Rob Piper with the Occupy Denver movement said.
Piper says he understands the strain a response like last weekend's has on the city. But he says it was an unnecessary strain.
"I feel that to deploy 200 riot officers, to use pepper ball guns, to use mass dispensers for spray; that seems like an unreasonable response," Piper said.
Instead, Piper says that time could be spent in dialogue with protesters and the money spent on the many issues they want addressed.
Regardless, it's an issue both sides may very well find themselves in again.
Denver police say in a lot of cases when they have to mobilize a large force and have to pull resources from other areas they rely on other cities to help with calls in those areas.
