The massive manhunt for a sniper linked to at least nine shootings across the Washington area will cost several million dollars before the gunman is caught, analysts and officials predicted Friday.
In Montgomery County, Md., where the first five fatal shootings occurred, officials forecast the cost as easily in excess of $1 million. In neighboring Prince George’s County, Md., where a 13-year-old boy was critically wounded outside a school Monday, police spent $10,000 a day to provide protection outside 235 area schools.
Elected officials in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia said the cost of thousands of hours of overtime, scores of helicopter flights and fuel to keep additional vehicles on the road was insignificant in contrast to the urgency of catching the killer who is suspected of involvement in a tenth shooting Friday.
“Public safety of the citizens of the commonwealth is at the core of what we do,” said Gov. Mark Warner (D) when asked whether there were any constraints on spending to catch the sniper.
“It’s not a choice,” agreed Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (D). “You have to deal with it. If there’s someone attacking you, you fight back.”
Few investigations nationally have required so much manpower, crossing so many local and state borders, for so long.
But there have been events of comparable scope, such as the 1992 Los Angeles riots, when police amassed $12.9 million in overtime expenses, and the city’s emergency service costs exceeded $2 million a day. Los Angeles County spent $1.6 million to catch Angelo Bruno Jr., the “Hillside Strangler” who sexually tortured and killed nine women in 1977 and 1978.
In 1990, New York police searching for the Zodiac Killer launched that city’s biggest manhunt since the 1977 search for the Son of Sam, David Berkowitz. A 50-detective task force was created, and a citywide police dragnet was in place, at a cost of $25,000 in overtime a day, according to news reports. The killer was never caught.
In Montgomery County, police are piling up a massive list of expenses, said Nicholas Tucci, the department’s budget director.
In addition to overtime costs, officers have bought fax machines, televisions, body armor and night vision goggles and rented additional office space. They’ve had to buy meals and stacks of office supplies.
“I just talked to my tactical guy buying stuff at Home Depot,” Tucci said. “It doesn’t take an incredible amount of time to rack up costs with something like this.”
Both Montgomery and Prince George’s officials said Friday they will consider seeking state or federal aid to reimburse some, if not all, of the police costs.
Officially, there is no formal procedure for such a request, said Warren Deschenaux, the Maryland General Assembly’s chief fiscal analyst. It simply requires action from the governor.
Virginia budget officials said they anticipate paying for the sniper investigation will require dipping into a special fund. “It’s meant to cover unbudgeted emergencies just like this,” said John Bennett, the state’s finance secretary. “But my hope is they catch the guy today and we don’t have to worry about it.”
