Federal reimbursement saves Lawrence from absorbing World Cup security expenses

KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.

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Lawrence city commissioners voted Tuesday to accept a deal with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that reimburses the city's police department for expenses related to World Cup security.

The Algeria men's national team selected Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence as its base camp for the duration of its World Cup run. The team stayed at the Double Tree by Hilton in Lawrence and practiced at the KU Athletics facility.

In order to host a team, FIFA mandated security and escorts to and from practices and World Cup matches, according to Laura McCabe, Lawrence Police Department (LPD) spokesperson.

Jake Weller/KSHB

“When we started planning this about a year and a half ago, we didn’t know who was going to pay for what," said Lawrence police chief Richard Lockhart. "We knew that FIFA wasn’t going to pay for things.”

While the agreement reimburses up to $751,000 in public safety costs, Lockhart estimates the department will receive between $250,000 and $300,000 from the FIFA World Cup Grant Program.

He said the agreement will cover most of the department's overtime costs and all escort expenses that occurred over the more than three-week period Team Algeria stayed and practiced in Lawrence.

Lockhart said one escort looked different from the others.

“There was one day that the team bus didn’t show up to transport them to training, so our officers will help transport these professional soccer players in police cars to their training," he said. "So, it was really cool to see just the way the police officers interacted with the players, and the players got to know some of the officers.”

The department provided around-the-clock security for the team at the Double Tree by Hilton, according to Lockhart.

Other jurisdictions — including the Topeka Police Department, police departments throughout Johnson County, and the FBI — assisted LPD in their World Cup security operations, Lockhart said. Those expenses also are covered under the agreement.

Without the reimbursement, funding would have been pulled from the city's general fund, according to the city's agenda item report.

"It would have to come probably from fund balance or some other program that had some left over money, and if you’ve been following our budget, there’s not a lot of that over the past few years," Lockhart said.

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Lockhart said the department found out it would be reimbursed for these costs within the past couple of months.

There were zero citations and zero arrests made at both the Double Tree by Hilton and at the World Cup watch parties downtown, according to McCabe.

Will Shaw/KSHB

Mike Logan, owner of The Granada Theater, hosted watch parties on Massachusetts Street for both Team Algeria and Team USA fans.

"We’ve done a lot around KU basketball, and love doing those types of things, but to do it around World Cup soccer is a big deal," he said.

Logan said this time around, different safety precautions were taken. He said both Lawrence police and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security were involved in his planning process.

Jake Weller/KSHB

"We had a Homeland Security consultant come and meet with us, walk the perimeter, go through our security measures, shared those with PD and took any input that they had," he said.

Logan said additional concrete barriers and barricades were placed along Massachusetts Street, and that he saw at least four uniformed officers around the perimeter of his watch parties.

He also provided his own security, too.

“We celebrate, we have fun, we work together," Lockhart said.

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