WASHINGTON – If the Nationals go deep into the postseason, expect to see a lot of police handling security and traffic.
The Metropolitan Police Department estimates as many as 400 police officers will be needed for a game if the Nats make it to the National League Championship Series or the World Series, The Washington Examiner reports.
Police Chief Cathy Lanier told WTOP on Ask the Chief officers would be used for “getting traffic in and out, coordinating pedestrians, gettting them in and out, and then some of the celebrations that will be in the street. You’ll see a lot more police.”
The agency plans to assign 200 officers from the Civil Disturbance Unit to handle a single wild-card playoff game. The number would double if the Nats advance to the National League Championship Series or the World Series, acording to a document the Examiner obtained.
Officers would be used from each of the District’s seven police districts but would not disrupt neighborhood police services, a police department spokesperson tells the Examiner. But the head of the police union says the extra security will take officers out of neighborhoods.
The Examiner says the city’s deal with the Nats specifies that the District will pick up the tab for extra security, which could run to hundreds of thousands of dollars for a single game and top $1 million for the whole postseason.
Lanier has said the department would ask to be reimbursed for the overtime.
Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans tells the Examiner the amount of money the city makes on a game “dwarfs” its cost.
Evans tells WTOP the fans do not have to worry about getting home after the postseason games. Metro service will be available.
Fans can get their hands on potential wild-card tickets starting Friday.
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