MIAMI -- Security for the Free Trade Area of the
Americas summit last November in Miami will wind up costing taxpayers at
least nearly $4 million -- about $1.4 million higher than predicted.
The federal government will pick up roughly one-third of the
amount. But local funds must cover the rest, and local officials say
it's justified.
The meeting was a summit of 34 Western Hemisphere nations trying
to create the world's largest free trade area. Miami-area police
officials say handling security for such a large meeting was a good test of their ability to handle large-scale security.
Twenty-two agencies contributed to the security effort, including
local and Miami-Dade County law enforcement forces, county departments
and state offices. The summit's security costs are significantly higher
than the $9 million spent on security at the World Trade Organization
meeting in Seattle in 1999. It's also higher than the $10.4 million
spent at the 2000 Republican Convention in Philadelphia.
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