America To Pay City for Part of Pope's Security

The federal government is expected to reimburse the city for just more than half of the costs of the enormous security initiative undertaken for the visit of Pope Benedict XVI, police officials said yesterday.

The police department is in the process of tabulating exactly how much it spent on security surrounding the pope's three-day visit to the city, an initiative that outside experts said cost millions of dollars, and it plans to announce the figure in the near future, the department's head spokesman, Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne, said.

Mr. Browne said the U.S. State Department will reimburse the police department for what is expected to be between 50% and 60% of its costs for ensuring the pontiff's safety at a series of public events during the weekend that culminated in a Sunday Mass at Yankee Stadium.

Last year, the State Department repaid the police department about $8 million of the $15 million it spent on the security of foreign dignitaries, a majority of which was incurred guarding the U.N. General Assembly, Mr. Browne said.

Monetary reimbursements for the pope's security are provided to the police department through the Protection of Foreign Missions and Officials program, a State Department spokesman said. The program, which is noted on the White House's Web site as the only federal program that reimburses local law enforcement for "extraordinary protection" of foreign dignitaries and diplomats, received $18 million in funding for fiscal year 2009 and $23 million for fiscal year 2008.

Mr. Browne said the department declined to offer a cost estimate prior to the pope's visit because the numbers can vary significantly.

Officials in Washington, D.C., reportedly estimated that the papal visit would cost their city $2.2 million.