Security costs for Miami trade summit reach nearly $24 million

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Sun, Feb. 22, 2004


Security costs for Miami trade summit reach nearly $24 million
Associated Press


MIAMI - Security for the Free Trade Area of the Americas summit held last November will cost taxpayers at least $23.9 million, about $1.4 million higher than predicted, and more than twice as much as security costs for similar meetings in other cities.

The federal government will pick up about $8.5 million of those costs. But local funds must cover the rest spent for the summit of 34 Western Hemisphere nations trying to create the world's largest free trade area.

Twenty-two agencies contributed to the security effort, including local and Miami-Dade County law enforcement forces, county departments and state offices. The county, which released its cost figures Friday, spent the majority of that money - nearly $15 million.

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, or the $10.4 million spent at the 2000 Republican Convention in Philadelphia.
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/8015618.htm

[gristy]

1. Hmmm. I wonder why no mention of private security forces?

I can't say I remember exactly, but is it possible that there was NO outsourcing of security forces? I find it hard to believe. Is there any DUer who knows if money was spent on private (i.e. contract) security in Miami?