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Miami -- Taxpayers will have to fork over $23.9 million for
security at the Free Trade Area of the Americas meetings that took place
in November -- almost double what organizers initially said they would
spend to handle anti-globalization protesters.
The federal government has pledged to reimburse only $8.5 million
of the total costs, leaving local agencies accountable for much of the
difference.
Police and government officials say the security expenditures were a
small price to pay in order to keep residents and businesses safe
during controversial trade talk negotiations, which were expected to
attract up to 100,000 demonstrators -- some of them intent on creating
trouble.
In preparing for the meetings, city and Miami-Dade County leaders
said they wanted to avoid another "battle in Seattle," where violent
protests caused $3 million in property damages and dozens of protesters,
bystanders and police were injured during a 1999 World Trade
Organization meeting.
But the hordes in Miami never materialized -- police estimated
about 10,000 protesters showed up -- and the demonstrators were far
tamer than expected.
Still, police officials say the damages and trouble could have been much worse had they not been prepared.
"Overall, it was money well spent," said Miami Police Chief John Timoney. "I make no apologies for that. It's not a science."
Business leaders say that having the meetings go off without a hitch ensured
that South Florida has a shot at becoming the headquarters for the FTAA.
"Having the kind of meeting that we had was not a guarantee but
having the flip side would have sure been the guarantee of not being
selected," said Jorge L. Arrizurieta, who runs Florida FTAA Inc., the
group organizing Miami's FTAA headquarters bid against 10 rival cities on the U.S. mainland, and others in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Panama and Trinidad-Tobago.
The headquarters is coveted by Gov. Jeb Bush and other officials for the jobs,
tourism and prestige it would bring, much as the United Nations in New
York and the European Union in Belgium have benefited their homes.
But critics assail what they see as an exorbitant amount of money for police forces that seriously curtailed civil liberties.
Most of the money went to police training, specialized equipment
and weapons and overtime, according to records submitted by state and
local government agencies.
A small portion went to services not related to security.
"Not only was it an overreaction and a lot of wasted money, but the
police departments are now equipped with instruments that can seriously
hurt people," said Lida Rodriguez-Taseff, president of Greater Miami
Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, who notes that more than
200 protesters were arrested, dozens were hit by rubber bullets and many
more were doused with pepper spray.
Protesters have filed one lawsuit in federal court and say more are coming.
"The poorest city in America has spent millions of dollars arming
its police instead of feeding its people, and nobody seems to be that
concerned about it," Rodriguez-Taseff said.
Much of the security costs were borne by Miami-Dade County Police,
which set expenditures at $10.6 million, considerably higher than the $3
million spent by the Miami Police Department, the operation's lead
agency.
Miami-Dade County spokeswoman Aimee Artiles said the county's
police force incurred more expenses because they were responsible for a
larger area and for securing sensitive transportation hubs such as Miami
International Airport.
Miami-Dade agencies are not the only ones that likely will be left with a hefty bill.
A number of Broward County agencies also might have to cough up some money from their coffers if the funds available for reimbursements fall short -- something that is expected.
Jim Leljedal, spokesman for the Broward Sheriff's Office, said
their agency will try to recoup what they can of the more than $330,000
the department spent on security, but costs can't stand in the way of
good police work.
"When we get requests from other departments for help, the cost is not the first consideration," he said.
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