UC Berkeley Spent $4 Million on Security for Three Events in One Month Last Year
“final costs exceeded original estimates”
Wouldn’t it be a lot cheaper for Berkeley to teach their students not to riot over speeches?
The Washington Free Beacon reports:
UC Berkeley Spent $4 Million on Security for Three Events in One Month
The University of California-Berkeley spent nearly $4 million in a single month in 2017 on security for just three events.
From Aug. 27 to Sept. 27, Berkeley spent $3.9 million on security, in what Berkeley spokesperson Dan Mogulof called an “unprecedented” sum for such costs over that short a period.
The events covered included an on-campus counter-protest to an anti-Marxist rally in the city; Ben Shapiro‘s lecture; and a Milo Yiannopoulos stunt dubbed “Free Speech Week,” that consisted of a 15-minute appearance by the alt-right personality.
Two-thirds of the $4 million was spent on the Yiannopoulous event alone.
“Event security costs of this magnitude are not sustainable, even as many of the factors that drive them are beyond the control or influence of a University,” said Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ. “We would have certainly preferred to expend these precious resources on our academic mission.”
Mogoluf said the costs were solely determined on the “guidance and information” of law enforcement professionals, and not driven by student intolerance to controversial speakers or poor administrative planning.
UCPD Chief Margo Bennett said that “final costs exceeded original estimates due to the complexity of the law enforcement operations and a confluence of unprecedented and unforeseen developments.”
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Comments
Would be much less costly if you would actually fire employees and expell students who riot as a recreational activity. And sanction those who encourage it for others.
Paying security to just stand there and let people do what they want also seems ineffective.