The motorcade carrying Vice President Joe Biden and other Democratic officials travels north on North Street during the vice president’s fundraising trip to Greenwich, Conn., on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014.
Vice squad has new meaning in Greenwich and Stamford.
The Gold Coast locales ran up $29,549 in police overtime protecting Vice President Joe Biden during an Aug. 20 fundraising swing here, Hearst Connecticut Media has learned.
Even though Biden’s visit was political in nature, municipal taxpayers will wind up eating the costs because there is no mechanism for cities or towns to get reimbursed by the White House, a bone of contention for some locals.
In Greenwich, about 40 of the town’s 149 police officers were assigned to Biden’s detail, with most deployed to block intersections for the vice president’s motorcade. The police OT in Greenwich totaled $15,306.29, police Chief James Heavey said.
A photograph with Biden and the price of a single admission during the Greenwich fundraiser for the Democratic Governors Association was $15,000.
In Stamford, 47 police officers worked an average of five hours of overtime each for a total bill of $14,242.82, according to figures released by the office of Democratic Mayor David Martin.