Campaign visits take a toll on local police - CBS4 - WHBF Quad Cities, IL-IA News Weather Sports

Campaign visits take a toll on local police

By: Christine Souders

csouders@cbs4qc.com

We hear a lot about "campaign spending," but local police departments have to do a fair amount of spending as well. When such high profile guests, such as President Barack Obama or Governor Mitt Romney, these visits are taking a toll on surrounding police departments who have to go to great lengths to keep them safe.

"Every intersection, every location where there could be any kind of a threat to the President or to the Dignitary. We have it covered," said Davenport Assistant Chief of Police, Major Don Schaeffer.

He said when they get the call from the secret service, officers have four days to prepare for the visit, "It's just a matter of the lieutenant, and the secret service. They come up with a plan and work it out, we start plugging in bodies."

Which means no one gets the day off, even non-uniformed officers have to suit up, and nearly everyone is guaranteed overtime.

"Sometimes we're well over 100 or 120 local officers that are assigned to this duty. We want to make sure we have a secured, safe location for them," said Schaeffer.

He explained the department has to pay the extra cost out of it's own pocket, "It averages around 12 to 25,000 dollars of actual cost to us."

But Schaeffer said paying officers to protect our commander in chief is a privilege, not a burden. "Oh, it's an honor. Basically, it's an honor for the President to be here, and now we know what it's like first hand."

Despite the extra officers needed to protect the President, don't worry. If you have an emergency, there are plenty of officers available to help.

Davenport police aren't the only ones you'll see in uniform at the big event.

"In the Sheriff's Office, we have a unique group and it's call our sheriff's reserves. They're unpaid volunteers, as many times we can get them to respond to a situation, such as this where we need additional manpower," said Scott County Sheriff Dennis Conard.
 
The Sheriff tells us the volunteers will be in charge of traffic and the motorcade.
Bettendorf and The Highway Patrol are also pitching in to help the secret service pull off a safe and secure trip for the President.