A local policing agency has asked the East Lansing Police Department to foot costs for extra law enforcement during last month's melees - and more requests could be forthcoming.
The Ingham County Sheriff's Department forwarded a bill for $3,000 for its contributions to the force that patrolled the streets during the March 28-30 disturbances.
"Any money that we have to spend on this was not forecasted, and we'll obviously have to make reductions elsewhere," East Lansing police Capt. Juli Liebler said. "It's money we didn't plan on spending and would have been put to better use if we'd not have these events."
Reimbursing other police units won't be detrimental to the department, but it could affect services, Liebler said. It could result in purchasing and hiring freezes, as well as the elimination of the cadet program, which is already in jeopardy due to looming budget problems.
The city and campus sustained more than $40,000 in damage and officers say that figure would be steeper if less police had been present.
Ingham, Eaton and Clinton counties, Meridian Township, Lansing and the Michigan State police departments all sent officers March 30 after the MSU men's basketball team's Elite Eight loss to the University of Texas. Almost 200 officers were present as a crowd of 2,000 took to the streets.
The Lansing Police Department won't request to be reimbursed, Lansing police Lt. Bruce Ferguson said. The department had enough officers on regular duty to aid during the disturbances. There were eight officers and two supervisors from Lansing who assisted on March 30.
Even though Lansing had enough officers on duty, it still had to take out several hundred dollars from its overtime budget for the riot.
The $3,000 doesn't come out of East Lansing's strained overtime budget, but Liebler said the loss still has the same effects. She said the money probably came from the city's general fund, though Liebler couldn't say how much was left in the fund.
The department's yearly $350,000 overtime budget has been deteriorated covering pro and anti-war demonstrations. During the weekend of March 21-22, the department used $10,000 of its overtime budget.
An extra $15,000 was taken from the budget during the March 30 riot.
East Lansing City Manager Ted Staton said the city's $50 million budget should be able to handle the dents.
"We're not talking about, at this point, huge numbers," he said.
Officers from East Lansing and MSU also have been tracking down people who may have participated in the disturbances through a tipline and confiscating information through computers. They say cracking down on lawbreakers will help prevent future disturbances and prevent further overtime consuming.
MSU police have now received more than 80 tips in relation to disturbances. All but one person arrested for their alleged involvement in the disturbances has been arraigned.
Miguel Miranda, an accounting freshman, was arraigned Monday under charges of rioting and malicious destruction of property.
Psychology sophomore Timothy Ricker will be arraigned within 10 days, 54-B District Court officials say. He faces charges of unlawful assembly and preparing to burn less than $200 in property.
After Ricker's court appearance, it will bring the total up to 23 students and five nonstudents arraigned for alleged involvement in the disturbances.
Chad Previch can be reached at previchc@msu.edu.
