By Associated Press - Wednesday, November 18, 2020

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - The Providence police department has spent more money on overtime than usual and will likely continue to exceed past spending because of protests and the pandemic, public records show.

Between July 1 and Oct. 23, the department paid more than $2.5 million in overtime, the Providence Journal reports. The budget for police overtime before 2020 was $3.3 million for an entire year.

Commissioner Steven M. Paré told the newspaper he estimates overtime for the fiscal year of 2021, which started in July, could reach as high as $5 million. Providence City Council has not yet finalized a budget for 2021, the newspaper reports.

Since July, the department has charged $600,000 in overtime for staffing related to the pandemic like providing security at testing sites and enforcing social distancing rules. The department has also paid $250,000 in overtime costs in that period to post officers on Atwells Avenue, a busy commercial strip where diners eat outside, the newspaper reported.

Police staffing at protests have cost $900,000 in overtime from the end of May to the end of October, according to public records obtained by the newspaper. The protest on June 5 following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis racked up $106,142 in police overtime costs, the largest amount for any single protest over the summer, the newspaper reported.

City council members and advocates are debating how to fund the department in this year’s budget, the newspaper reported.

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