Taxpayers will foot the bill for about $450,000 in police costs associated with NBA All-Star Weekend events.
Las Vegas police spent about $1.1 million in overtime to boost security along the Strip during the NBA's annual showcase and its related events last month.
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The department received $651,000 for the additional officers during the four-day event, department Finance Director Karen Keller told Metropolitan Police Department Committee on Fiscal Affairs on Monday.
The NBA paid $121,576 of that total. The rest came from Strip hotels that held parties and concerts and from Las Vegas Events.
The remaining $449,000 will come out of the Police Department's budget, Sheriff Doug Gillespie said.
The final cost was higher than the $300,000 police had projected because more officers were needed for the large crowds that stayed in Las Vegas through the following Monday, which was a holiday.
Extra officers also patrolled McCarran International Airport that day to help keep order when check-in delays for Southwest Airlines left hundreds of people waiting in line at a time, the sheriff said.
Gillespie said his department negotiates with private venues to pay for security at their events, but the department cannot charge them for policing public areas such as Las Vegas Boulevard.
An estimated 85,000 tourists visited Las Vegas for NBA-related events, spending $91 million in nongaming revenue. Las Vegas police arrested 403 people who said they were in town for the game and festivities. Most of the arrests were prostitution-related.
