The 23-day manhunt to catch two escaped prisoners who broke out of a maximum-security prison in upstate NY in June cost the state over $1 million a day, according to an AP report.
The manhunt for convicts Richard Matt and David Sweat, who escaped from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, NY on June 6th, led to over $41 million in overtime costs for the corrections department and $17.6 million in overtime for state police. Those numbers were roughly twice the amount spent for June and July in 2014. They add:
The comptroller’s office declined to comment on the overtime data requested under the state’s Freedom of Information Law. It showed state police overtime $10.6 million higher for five pay dates in June and July than last year. The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision overtime was $12.3 million higher.
Matt was shot and killed on June 26th. Sweat was shot and captured on June 28th.
State Police Superintendent Joseph D’Amico downplayed the cost in an interview with ABC: "I know it was a substantial amount of money," D’Amico said. "If we lost one life of an innocent victim, what's the price tag you put on that? I don't know that you could put a price tag on the safety of a person or a person's life."
