The Occupy movements happening in today’s major cities doesn’t come cheap. The first two months of the protests cost local American taxpayers $13 million “in police overtime and other municipal services” according to the Associated Press.

The chair of Vancouver’s finance committee said in an article on Nov. 15 that the costs are within the city’s budget, which at that point had added up to $560,398. The money comes out of a contingency budget used for unexpected circumstances. However, some have argued that the cost has already reached $1 million. Whatever the correct figure is, there is no doubt that these are costs the city would rather not have had to spend.

Besides an overall inconvenience, I agree with what was said in Karen Lee’s post, “Occupy to death! Wait, what are we occupying for again?” that such resources used to keep these protests under control could be allocated elsewhere where they would be used more efficiently. There are also safety concerns with these protests, with the presence of drugs and alcohol at camp sites. The main problem is that protesters will probably never feel like their terms are being met, so it could be awhile before this movement sees results.

Photo: Hello Vancity