"Waste of Taxpayer Money? $116,000 Spent On Occupy Fresno So Far," KMPH.com, 11/22/11.
And in the Fresno Bee, 11/21/11:
Keeping an eye on Occupy Fresno protesters has put a dent in the county's wallet – to the tune of $123,000 through the beginning of last week and tens of thousands of dollars more since then, county records show.
Most of the money spent on the downtown protest has gone to sheriff's deputies who arrived in force on Nov. 6. In less than two weeks, Sheriff's Office staff logged more than $100,000 of time monitoring demonstrators and making arrests.
Smaller amounts of county funds have gone to security, jail bookings and legal counsel.
While the Sheriff's Office staffing at the protest represents just 2% of the department's payroll, it's not money the office has to spare. Already, budget shortfalls mean fewer deputies working the streets and fewer guards watching the jail.
