Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Eco demos have cost taxpayers £37million
Top cop admits ‘horrendous strain’
POLICING the Extinction Rebellion protests has cost taxpayers £37million so far this year – enough to pay for 1,300 police officers.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said the two-week action this month alone had cost her force £21million, a bill expected to rise by several million.
Dame Cressida said: “We are at the point where I would say to Extinction Rebellion, this is placing horrendous strain on London and on the Met.
“From the Met’s point of view it’s a big cost to us and the people who pay for us and a huge drain on our people’s resources and energy, causing their families to have to make massive changes.
“Partly because people get tired and partly because we just had to slow down certain types of inquiries, certain types of investigations would just be done more slowly and some things won’t ever be done at all.” With the average starting salary of a London PC being £27,153, £37million would be enough to pay the annual salary of 1,362 new officers.
The extra costs include £3.5million for overtime, just under £6million for officers drafted in from 38 other forces and £11.8million staffing costs.
A total of 1,828 protesters have been arrested with 164 charged. Extinction Rebellion called the £37million a “bargain” and said it had no choice but to take to the streets to demand action on the climate crisis.
Former chief superintendent and Extinction Rebellion UK spokesman Rob Cooper said: “Perhaps this Government should look at how they spend money.
“According to a report in January our Government spends £10.5billion a year subsidising fossil fuels.”
Police have recovered 80 tonnes of equipment such as tents and toilets left by protestors, which will go to landfill.