Washington DC police racked up over $11.6 million in overtime costs in just one month in response to the presence of the People’s Convoy.
Civil disturbance units were deployed by police in the Washington DC area beginning on February 22nd and lasted through the end of March. Fox 5 News reports that this cost the department $11.6 million, versus less than $3.2 million in overtime during the same period in 2021.
Det. Adam Shaatal, with the D.C. Police Union, says that the period of overtime took its toll on the already short-staffed police force. Shaatal says that some officers worked for three weeks straight during that time.
“Unfortunately, because we’re so short-staffed, we are taking from our detective’s bureau and other places that would’ve been working some of our most violent crimes, our shootings, our robberies, our stabbings, our carjackings — we’re putting them in a uniform, and we’re putting them in a car.”
“Everybody’s working. Your days off are canceled, you’re working extended tour of duties. Leave is restricted,” Shaatal continued. “It’s extremely unfortunate. It is a huge commitment that the members make to this department. They’re away from their families. It’s a big deal.”
Officials are still working to calculate the total cost of the multiple weeks of trucker protests, as the $11.6 million covers only overtime costs for that time period.