Occupy Atlanta Patrols Cost City $456,691, Mayor Reports

The city spent $451,691 during the more than two-week Occupy Atlanta standoff, Mayor Kasim Reed reported, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The mayor said that most of the expense went to police overtime. Occupy Atlanta's takeover of Woodruff Park downtown ended last week with the arrest of 52 people. During the protest, offered to address the group, but was not allowed to speak.

Officers from Atlanta's were called into duty to monitor the group, an offshoot from the Occupy Wall Street protest in New York. Zone 2 Commander Maj. Robert Browning told Buckhead's NPU-B this week that the police did a good job keeping watch on Occupy Atlanta and carrying out the final crackdown ordered by Reed.

Unlike other events such as the Democratic National Convention that have a set time schedule that allows the police to plan their security patrols, the Occupy Atlanta demonstration was fluid and spontaneous, requiring the APD to respond on the moment, he said.

"We mostly had to react to the intelligence we were given," Browning told the NPU. "It might have looked a little disorganized, but it wasn't."

Browning said that police were unable to arrest a man seen at Woodruff Park carrying an AK-47 on his back. Reed told the AJC that the armed man's presence was a major factor in his ordering the protest to be stopped.

The law allows the carying of unconcealed weapons, even an AK-47, Browning said.

"As long as he's walking in a public place, he's fine," Browning said.