Festival Security – Money in, Money out
“Chicago taxpayers spent more than $2 million policing lakefront festivals last year — $1.5 million of it for Taste of Chicago alone — underscoring Mayor Daley’s desire to privatize the events and the difficulty he may have in doing so.”
Event security doesn’t come cheap, and that’s why many festival’s around the world rely more and more on private
security companies, releasing the police assets they’ve been tying up, and also increasing stability in the security situation, with dedicated people, there to do one job only. Also, it’s always impossible to know when the police officers might be called away to something more serious, so to speak.
More;
“As many as 293 police officers a day provided security for Taste of Chicago 2009 at a daily cost of up to $111,572. Similar costs were incurred for nine days: June 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 and July 1, 2, 4 and 5 for a grand total of $873,533.”
“Policing costs for the city’s other lakefront festivals totaled $537,732 in 2009, the internal document shows. That includes: Gospel Fest ($11,909); Blues Fest ($142,898); the now-cancelled Venetian Night ($65,234); Air & Water Show ($117,816); Viva Chicago Latin Music Fest ($41,858); Jazz Fest ($89,717); Celtic Fest ($19,701) and Country Music Fest ($48,596).”
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