Harvard Billed $185,000 by Cambridge Police for Security at Grad Student Strike

Harvard Billed $185,000 by Cambridge Police for Security at Grad Student Strike

The $185,000 was just for the first two weeks of the strike. It sounds like a lot, but it is Harvard we’re talking about here.

The Harvard Crimson reports:

Cambridge Police Billed Harvard $185,000 for Security During First Two Weeks of Grad Union Strike

The Cambridge Police Department billed Harvard around $185,000 in security fees associated with the first two weeks of the graduate student union’s strike, according to CPD spokesperson Jeremy Warnick.

CPD sent the University an invoice to pay for “safety and security support” associated with the Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Automobile Workers strike earlier this month, Warnick wrote in an email. The bill covers strike-related costs the police department incurred between Dec. 3 and Dec. 16.

HGSU-UAW began striking on Dec. 3 after 13 months of contract negotiations with University administrators. Striking union members and their supporters have picketed around campus, disrupted package deliveries, and held rallies featuring prominent politicians in Harvard Yard.

Warnick wrote that CPD intended to keep both passers-by and picketers safe. He added that Harvard requested the additional security.

“Our goal with this type of event is to provide a police presence in order to insure the safety of those participating and to maintain the normal flow of pedestrian and vehicular traffic,” he wrote. “In the event of a disturbance or hazardous traffic event, officers would be responsible for assignments such as crowd control, road closures, traffic detour contingencies, enforcement (if necessary), etc.”

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