NYPD Reckons with Trump’s Impact on Budget

The New York City Police Department is in line for partial federal reimbursement of the $24 million it spent protecting Trump Tower from November to January, but stands to lose over $100 million in federal grants that would largely fund counterterrorism efforts as a result of President Donald Trump’s immigration policy.

NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill detailed budget challenges facing police in connection with providing security for Trump and his family and the president’s vow to withhold funds from jurisdictions that do not comply with federal immigration law at a city council hearing March 30 regarding the department’s projected expenses for the coming fiscal year.

NYPD officials said the department continues to seek federal reimbursement for increased security costs at Trump Tower after the presidential election. In December 2016, Congress appropriated $7 million in grants available to state or local agencies that incurred “extraordinary law enforcement overtime costs” related to Trump’s security from Election Day to Inauguration Day. The $7 million would cover less than a third of the $24 million the NYPD says it spent protecting Trump over that period.

The $7 million is not allocated specifically to New York City, leaving some local officials with concerns that the city could miss out on the full amount. Also eligible to receive funds are agencies in other locations where Trump spent time as president-elect — notably in New Jersey and Florida, where Trump held transition meetings at properties he owns. “I think it’s really insulting that we are competing with other localities for expenses that have already been incurred,” said Council Member Vanessa Gibson, chair of the public safety committee.

Vincent Grippo, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner of management and budget, said that New York has the strongest case for reimbursement and will apply for the full $7 million. “We will seek all of those funds, and have sufficient overtime records to justify that,” he said.

The department is also lobbying for federal reimbursement for the protection of Trump’s wife, Melania, and son, Barron, who continue to reside at Trump Tower. The NYPD estimates that their security costs the department $127,000 to $146,000 per day. The NYPD’s preliminary budget for the next fiscal year now under consideration by the city council does not reflect anticipated costs associated with providing security for Trump Tower.

The $24 million spent by the NYPD on Trump’s security from Election Day to Inauguration Day represents a small slice of the police department’s annual spending, which totals $5.3 billion in the proposed budget. Of greater consequence is the $110 million in funding from the Department of Homeland Security that the NYPD could be barred from receiving as a result of President Trump’s executive order to withhold federal funding from so-called “sanctuary cities” like New York, which do not cooperate with federal officials in enforcing immigration laws in all cases.

O’Neill said that the exact implications of the executive order on NYPD funding are still unclear, but that the $110 million in Homeland Security funding accounts for two percent of the NYPD’s total budget and translates to “hundreds” of officers, largely in counterterrorism roles. In addition to Homeland Security grants, Trump administration policy could also jeopardize $10 million in funding from the Justice Department and $25 million from the State Department. Grant funding is not recognized in the NYPD’s preliminary budget until it is actually awarded.

Earlier in March, O’Neill traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with federal officials about the Trump Tower security reimbursement and jeopardized grant money. He called the talks “very productive.”