Minneapolis police racked up millions in overtime in less than 2 weeks during immigration enforcement surge
Minneapolis police officers worked $3 million in overtime in just 12 days during Operation Metro Surge, the federal immigration enforcement operation that has sent 3,000 agents to Minnesota.
From Jan. 7 — the day an ICE officer shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis — to Jan. 9, officers worked a cumulative 3,000 extra hours for which they are paid at 1.5 times the rate of their regular wage, according to court documents. The estimated overtime cost for the four-day period after that shooting was $2 million.
But by Jan. 18, the overtime costs for the department climbed to $3 million, a city spokesperson told WCCO News. That's before Minneapolis police responded to the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by a Border Patrol agent this past weekend, so overtime is likely to increase. That data is not available yet.
"We're doing everything we can to manage this chaos, but there's only 600 cops here and there are thousands of immigration agents," Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said on Face the Nation Sunday.
"I don't know what else could possibly be asked of this very, very understaffed and overstretched police department," he said later on the broadcast.
The lawsuit the State of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul filed against the Department of Homeland Security to stop Operation Metro Surge states police officers had their days off canceled in the days surrounding the Good shooting and they had to work longer days.
The overtime reflects "hours spent ensuring general public safety in the face of Defendants' surge in forces and reckless and aggressive immigration enforcement tactics and public reactions to the same," the complaint said.
Minnesota-based progressive think tank North Star Policy Action, in an analysis last week, suggested the total taxpayer costs associated with the influx in federal immigration enforcement — including agent compensation and their lodging and meals plus detention for those arrested and police overtime — could be at least $18 million per week.
The group admits that number is just an estimate and actual costs could actually be much higher.
From Jan. 7 through Jan. 19, St. Paul police have worked over 2,300 hours for a city bill of nearly $190,000, which includes base pay and overtime, according to a police spokesperson.
