I was in the Madison Capitol building this weekend and blogged, among other things, about how many law enforcement officers were visible inside the building. Excluding the 20 or so officers involved in screening citizens entering the building, I counted eighty bored looking officers standing guard (well, most of them were seated) on the first, second, and third floors. At the time I thought it was excessive. I have just learned exactly how excessive it is.
A State Trooper from the western part of Wisconsin just told my source that the 80 officers I counted were less than half of the officers on duty that day - or any day. On Sunday, the state estimated that there were fewer than 200 people in the building at any time. Apparently, though, the subdued crowd I saw warranted a police force of well over 150 officers, since many of them are hanging out in the basement break room at any given time. With a police to protestor ratio of almost 1:1, that's a lot of force.
That ridiculous show of force is coming at a huge cost to the taxpayers. In this State Trooper's most recent paycheck, he had amassed 62 hours of overtime over two weeks. Tonight, after his regular shift ends at 3:00, he has been ordered to drive to Madison for an overnight shift, to be there while the Capitol is closed and empty. One of his fellow troopers, who normally pulls a paycheck of about $1600, was paid over $4000 in his last check, all due to overtime at the Capitol.
And Scott Walker apparently needs far, far more security than has been reported. It made the news when Walker was assigned six officers for security, an increase from the four officers that had been assigned to Governor Doyle and his family. What has not been reported is that Walker's security detail has grown to ten law enforcement officials, according to my source.
Given the entirely peaceful protests, the lack of violence, and the tight restrictions on access to the Capitol building now in place, the law enforcement presence is way out of line. The cost to the taxpayers is not justified by any facts, given the absolutely peaceful nature of this rebellion. I believe Walker's excessive use of law enforcement officials from all over the state to guard the Capitol and himself is partly intimidation, partly a means of painting the protestors as so violent that this level of security is required, and partly just arrogance. Without a doubt, though, it is a complete waste of taxpayer money.