Philly police spent over $4M in overtime covering presidential candidate visits this year

Being the center of the political universe comes at a cost.

The Philadelphia Police Department spent more than $4 million in overtime providing protection for the presidential and vice presidential candidates who visited the city this year vying for votes, city records show.

Across the 22 days in which candidates came to town in 2024, the police department paid out an average of $191,423 in overtime, the records show.

The Democratic candidates — President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and her running mate Tim Walz — visited most often and drew the most city resources. Republican President-elect Donald J. Trump and soon-to-be Vice President JD Vance came to the city on five occasions, but typically stopped by other parts of the state more frequently.

Harris’ massive rally outside of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on the eve of Election Day was the most expensive, running up a nearly $1.6 million tab for police overtime. Coverage for the Sept. 10 presidential debate between Harris and Trump at the National Constitution Center cost a little over $1.3 million.

That $4 million tab is only the cost to city police, and doesn’t include the additional local resources for 18 candidate visits to the nearby suburban counties.

The Pennsylvania State Police also typically provide security support for candidates’ events across the state, if requested. The agency declined to provide figures for its overtime spending, but a spokesperson said it is always willing to provide the necessary support to keep candidates and residents safe.

The Secret Service is typically responsible for requesting support from local law enforcement for events and visits, and historically, the agency does not reimburse municipalities for those costs. (This is an issue that some lawmakers have focused on changing. U.S. Rep. Tom Kean Jr., a Republican who represents part of North Jersey, sponsored a bill earlier this year that would authorize the agency to reimburse state and local governments. It remains in the House Judiciary Committee.)

Even so, Joe Grace, a spokesperson for Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, said the city has submitted expenses for reimbursements to the Harris-Walz campaign for costs not associated with police or public safety.

As for police overtime, he said, the city would shoulder those costs, as has been the case historically.

“It’s part of the police department’s regular duties of providing public safety,” he said.

Sgt. Eric Gripp, a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Police Department, said the agency works closely with state and federal partners to balance “the importance of security with the responsible use of resources.”

“Ensuring the safety of presidential candidates is not just a matter of protocol but a reflection of our department’s commitment to maintaining public safety as a whole,” he said, adding that while the protection comes at a cost, the security of the nation’s leaders, and of Philadelphians, is paramount.

A spokesperson for Harris’ campaign said “the campaign does reimburse local law enforcement when it directly asks for their support.” The official did not specify how often that occurs or under what circumstances.

Trump’s campaign did not respond to questions about the Philadelphia costs. The president-elect has been criticized in the past for not responding to municipalities’ requests for repayment. For example, officials in Erie requested a $40,330 reimbursement for Trump’s visits in 2018 and 2023, but received no response, according to the Erie Times-News.

While the overtime for presidential events was only a fraction of the Philadelphia Police Department’s $877 million annual budget, that expense came during yet another year of record-breaking costs for the city and the department.

That’s partly why Lauren Cristella, president of the Committee of Seventy, a nonprofit that advocates for better government spending and oversight, said the campaigns should pay the charges associated with their visits.

“Events tied exclusively to campaign activities should not burden local taxpayers, especially in a city already managing record overtime costs,” Cristella said in a statement.

She added: “If campaigns view these events as vital to their strategy, they should also recognize the responsibility of covering the true cost of making them safe and successful. Doing so supports Philadelphia’s fiscal health and ensures local resources remain focused on serving residents.”

Overtime costs in Philadelphia are expected to increase 8% across city government this fiscal year, to $285 million. The expense is driven in part by lingering vacancies in the city workforce and rising employee pay rates, city officials say.

Nearly half of all city overtime comes from the police department, with the total projected to cost the city more than $120 million by the end of the fiscal year.

Last year, police overtime cracked $100 million, a figure that represented a 36% increase over the previous year’s total.

The rising costs are driven in part by an ongoing staffing shortage, Gripp said, as well as higher salaries from the union contract. The agency is currently short about 1,300 officers, he said.

The city and the department have noted that increased overtime spending is offset by the reduced salary expenses from the vacancies.

Vacancies — and the accompanying overtime — are an issue in departments across the city. Nearly one in five municipal jobs is unfilled, and officials say that has complicated efforts to control overtime.