The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department incurred nearly $900,000 and the San Diego Police Department more than a quarter-million dollars in added costs to patrol the Otay Mesa area during the construction of eight border wall prototypes by would-be government contractors.
The added costs to the city and county, mostly to pay overtime wages to deputies and officers, added up to $1,175,840 for security at the border wall project site, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. That was on top of the more than $1.26 million the agencies spent on regular wages for officers and deputies.
The Union-Tribune obtained the financial information through a California Public Records Act request.
The Department of Homeland Security warned local law enforcement before the project began of the possibility of large-scale protests that could turn violent. But there were no demonstrations during the month-long construction.
A county spokeswoman told the Union-Tribune the costs were worth it and that county officials “are convinced that this uniformed presence” and temporary fencing eliminated any planned protest encampments.
The border wall project on federal land in Otay Mesa was designed to give federal officials a chance to test several different prototypes built by prospective government contractors seeking to build President Donald Trump’s promised barrier.
— City News Service
