Feds, police in spat over G-8 summit costs
Baku, May 18 (AZERTAC). In a standoff that might require delicate diplomacy to resolve, officials in Western Maryland are pressing the federal government to reconsider its refusal to help pay for local security costs for this week`s G-8 summit at Camp David.
Local police say they are ready for expected protests of the Group of Eight industrialized nations gathering that begins Friday and ends Saturday night — the highest-profile event held at the presidential retreat in years — but they are not eager to pick up the tab. They say overtime and equipment could cost tens of thousands of dollars — a big hit to small-town budgets.
The summit will bring world leaders to the quiet and remote Catoctin Mountain Park north of Frederick as European nations are struggling with the escalating debt crisis in Greece. Negotiators will remain out of public view at Camp David, but protesters plan to rally miles away in communities unaccustomed to the sometimes violent confrontations that have accompanied global economic summits elsewhere.
"Camp David is the safest, most secure area on the planet," said Frederick County Sheriff Charles "Chuck" Jenkins. "My problem is, I`m responsible for the other 640 square miles."
Jenkins estimates that policing the county during the summit could cost up to $175,000.
"You plan for the worst case," he said.
The dispute is drawing attention from some members of Maryland`s congressional delegation, including Republican Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, who sent a letter to the White House this week calling on the Obama administration to consider the burden the meeting has put on local police.
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