LeBron's CT Visit Costs Him Big Bucks
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LeBron James, #6 of the Miami Heat, will pay Greenwich $10,000 in cash for security bill.
LeBron James will cut a check for $10,000 to the town of Greenwich. That's how much the town spent to police his “Decision Day" spectacle at the Boys and Girls Club earlier this month.
The town says it had to pay overtime and hire nearly two dozen extra officers to control the thousands of fans who showed up to watch the much-anticipated announcement.
According to the Greenwich Time, producers of the July 8 prime-time special hired 21 police officers to work security, each of them earning $60 an hour for an average of eight hours. The paper acquired the figures from Lt. Kraig Gray, who was in charge of the operation.
The special was broadcast live on ESPN, but the network will not pay a penny. "ESPN was not involved with the local police," ESPN spokesperson Nate Smeltz told the paper.
Most of the officers were in charge of crowd control outside the Boys and Girls Club. During the event, LeBron announced he’d be leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat.
The A-list ball player wasn’t the only recent celeb to command a high level of police protection in Greenwich. Last month at least 50 cops were hired to do security for a Dave Matthews Band private charity concert. 50 officers at $60 an hour for eight hours averages up to a security price tag of about $24,000.
Posted Wednesday, Jul 21, 2010 - 12:39 PM EST
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