Photo: Protesters and police in Baton Rouge, July 10, 2016, The Times-Picayune.
The Times-Picayune reports that the Baton Rouge police and sheriff’s department spent a total $1.6 million on overtime pay in July, 2016—in response to protests following the fatal shooting of Alton Sterling by a police officer and attacks on law enforcement which left three officers dead.
According to a report from the Louisiana legislative fiscal office, the Baton Rouge police department spent $1.5 million for overtime pay in July. The sheriff’s department spent a fraction of that, close to $102,000 on overtime.
In response to the protests against police, Baton Rouge police officers worked about 37,000 hours of overtime during protests and civil unrest following the Sterling incident and subsequent attacks on police. The sheriff’s office worked about 2,600 hours of overtime.
The $1.6 million sum does not include costs in overtime from the Baton Rouge Fire Department or the Louisiana State Police, which were also involved.
