Putting a dollar amount on protests
The Teaneck Police Department has racked up nearly $130,000 in overtime pay as a result of demonstrations and other events in the New Jersey community related to the Gaza conflict since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, according to township officials.
Teaneck isn't the only U.S. town facing this cost uptick. Police in Englewood, New Jersey, have spent more than $32,000 in that time. In New York, the NYPD says it's amassed almost $53 million in overtime costs − just one tally of the intensity the war has generated the last eight months.
In Teaneck, whose large Jewish and Muslim populations have made it an epicenter for activism over the conflict, police overtime is up roughly 27% through May, compared with the same period last year. The expenditure has covered several large protests, weekly car rallies and extra staffing at council meetings, which have grown volatile in recent months.