May 24, 2025
State | Northwest Herald
State

Protests, virus response tap Rockford police overtime budget

By Associated Press

Protesters with Rockford Youth Activism, a Black Lives Matter aligned group, lie face down on the pavement for 8 minutes and 46 seconds during a Juneteenth march along Auburn Street at Kilburn Avenue, Friday, June 19, 2020, in Rockford, Ill. George Floyd, a Black man, died after being restrained for that amount of time by Minneapolis police officers on May 25. Juneteenth is the holiday celebrating the day in 1865 that enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, learned they had been freed from bondage, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. (Scott P. Yates/Rockford Register Star via AP) (Scott P)

ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) — A northern Illinois city used nearly 60% of its police overtime budget through July because of protests and coronavirus training and response, officials said.

Rockford planned for $2.7 million for overtime in 2020 and had spent about $1.6 million by July 31, the Rockford Register Star reported.

Protests against excessive force and racism have occurred for weeks in Rockford, leading to arrests of people accused of blocking traffic.

"Our regularly budgeted OT amount is doing a good job in covering protest costs. ... OT is only used when it is deemed necessary for the betterment of the community,” said John Pozzi, the police department's business manager.

“When planning for a protest, or any forecasted event, we focus on covering what is necessary and not deploying unneeded resources," Pozzi said.