Q: How much do terror-alerts cost?
Ans: (New Jersey Attorney General Peter C.) "Harvey said terror alerts in the past have cost the state between $250,000 and $350,000 per day, mainly in police overtime, and that measures for the convention are also likely to be costly.
"The sad truth is that New Jersey did not get a dime for the Republican National Convention," Harvey said.
The Federal Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return calls seeking comment on Harvey's assertion."
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~Get out your calculators. From March 2002, when Terror Alerts were instituted, through May 2003 there were 79 days of "Orange" (heightened) Alert to which I'm guessing Mr.Harvey's referring. Add another 30 Orange Alert till now?
Multiply $250,000. X 109. Divide that total by New Jersey's population: 2003 (est.) 8,638,396. And you have a very rough estimate of total Orange Alert costs per-person. Take that number and multiply it by USA's (est) population: 290,809,777. minus the 8.6 million New Jerseyians and there you are. Of course no one can put a price-tag on freedom.