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| Prison standoff cost $3.6 mil |
| By The Arizona Republic |
| Published: 04/12/2004 |
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Two inmates cost Arizona $3.6 million during their 15-day hostage standoff at a state prison, a tab that included thousands of hours of overtime and hundreds of takeout dinners for officers with little to do but sit and wait. The price tag also included $49,000 for snipers to practice shooting through 37 windowpanes and $26,000 in damage to the prison tower seized by the inmates. The cost of the standoff with inmates Ricky Wassenaar and Steven Coy at Arizona State Prison Complex-Lewis is about the price of housing, feeding and caring for 180 inmates for a year. A special state insurance policy is expected to cover all or most of the bill. Among the costs reported by the agencies involved: $1.6 million in overtime for Department of Corrections employees. $535,000 in other DOC personnel costs (including bringing in extra officers to work at Lewis). $850,000 in bills from outside agencies. For example, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office reported expenses of $816 at Burger King, $620 at Subway, $577 at Fazoli's and similar tabs at other restaurants. About a dozen agencies sent officers or equipment to the prison during the standoff, which stretched from Jan. 18 to Feb. 1, when the second hostage was released and the inmates surrendered. For 24 hours a day, law enforcement teams had to be prepared for anything that might happen. "It took what it took," said Cam Hunter, corrections spokeswoman, referring to the costs. "It took a large-scale effort in terms of personnel for tactical, negotiation, intelligence, and command expertise." Snipers were armed and ready to fire. Tactical teams practiced and prepared to storm the tower. Hostage negotiators tried to work deals with the captors. Ambulance and fire personnel were on standby. And extra corrections officers staffed the prison, which was on lockdown throughout the standoff. The sheriff's office sent 120 employees to the prison, and has billed the state $388,000. Salaries and overtime accounted for the bulk of the costs, with deputies and staffers logging 18,444 hours during the standoff. Fuel and food made up the rest. |
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