Teh One Who Knocks
11-17-2011, 12:14 PM
Written by Kevin Torres - 9 News Colorado
DENVER - Denver's Department of Safety says it needs about $6 million to help pay for some unexpected costs, including staffing and overtime for the Occupy Denver protests.
It's unclear how much of that $6 million will go toward staffing the protests, but if the last overtime figure from the end of October is any indication, it could be a good chunk of change.
"$341,000 by the end of October? That's a lot of money. A lot of money we did not anticipate spending on a group called Occupy Denver," Denver City Councilman Charlie Brown said.
Some of the money will be made up by officers ticketing drivers who honk as they pass by the protestors downtown. Denver Police are enforcing an old law which prohibits drivers to honk unless it's an emergency situation.
"It's pretty ridiculous that police are going to take that measure," Edward Moe, a protestor, said. "I was out here a couple weeks ago and it seemed like more people were honking then and they didn't care. Since then it seems like Denver Police have gotten a whole lot more aggressive at the protestors. Maybe it's part of their campaign to the silence the movement."
The tickets cost about $60. It's unclear how many have been issued so far.
When 9NEWS reached out to the Department of Safety, we were issued this response: "I put a query into our data analysis unit, but I think this may not be something we can pull," Mary Dulacki, the department's records coordinator, said.
The Denver City Council will likely vote on the $6 million increase next week.
DENVER - Denver's Department of Safety says it needs about $6 million to help pay for some unexpected costs, including staffing and overtime for the Occupy Denver protests.
It's unclear how much of that $6 million will go toward staffing the protests, but if the last overtime figure from the end of October is any indication, it could be a good chunk of change.
"$341,000 by the end of October? That's a lot of money. A lot of money we did not anticipate spending on a group called Occupy Denver," Denver City Councilman Charlie Brown said.
Some of the money will be made up by officers ticketing drivers who honk as they pass by the protestors downtown. Denver Police are enforcing an old law which prohibits drivers to honk unless it's an emergency situation.
"It's pretty ridiculous that police are going to take that measure," Edward Moe, a protestor, said. "I was out here a couple weeks ago and it seemed like more people were honking then and they didn't care. Since then it seems like Denver Police have gotten a whole lot more aggressive at the protestors. Maybe it's part of their campaign to the silence the movement."
The tickets cost about $60. It's unclear how many have been issued so far.
When 9NEWS reached out to the Department of Safety, we were issued this response: "I put a query into our data analysis unit, but I think this may not be something we can pull," Mary Dulacki, the department's records coordinator, said.
The Denver City Council will likely vote on the $6 million increase next week.