KALAMAZOO, MI -- The city of Kalamazoo spent almost $17,000 to pay police to end a month-long tent encampment in Bronson Park and repair damages.

According to invoices obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the city's public services and public safety departments spent several thousand dollars each on overtime for dozens of employees. Other costs came from removing tents and equipment from the park after police arrested people who remained in Bronson Park the morning of Sept. 19.

Police assembled in Bronson Park 12 hours after a deadline set by City Manager Jim Ritsema, declaring that protesters who stayed would be subject to a citation and arrest for trespassing. Most officers began their shift between 5:30 and 7 a.m. on Sept. 19, arriving in Bronson Park shortly before 7 a.m.

Kalamazoo's public services department spent $9,666 total, including $4,459 on labor, $3,151 to dispose items left in the park and restore the lawn, and $2,055 on equipment.

The parks and recreation department spent $1,810, almost all of which went toward labor.

A document outlining compensation for public safety officers on Sept. 19 shows 52 officers were paid overtime. The department paid out $5,428 in total overtime, with the average officer making $104 in overtime pay.

Several public safety officers earned much more. One officer earned $748 for 18 hours of overtime and one officer earned $832 for 20 hours of overtime.

Police reports obtained by MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette show how officers spent some of that time.

Lt. Scott VanderEnde described the enforcement as "an operation to clear out Bronson Park so that the park could be cleaned and remediated back to a sanitary condition." Members of the Kalamazoo Valley Enforcement Team were also on site.

Officers issued nine citations to people who were in tents and provided totes to pack up their camp site.

Some property was returned to people after they were released from custody, while other items went unclaimed and were thrown away. Deputy City Manager Jeff Chamberlain said 60 cubic yards of material, enough to fill six dump trucks, was thrown away.

Protesters said this included food, clothing, medicine and cooking equipment donated by the community.

Between 6:45 and 8 a.m., another group of officers removed people staying outside a property approved by the city on Cedar Street. No one was given citations.

At 7:30 a.m., the park was declared to be a police zone. Kalamazoo city ordinances allow police to establish an area that is closed to the public, punishable by misdemeanor.

Officers notified people three times between 7 and 7:30 p.m. to vacate the park over a loudspeaker and taped off the area with yellow caution tape. Police then met with protesters who gathered at the Rotary Stage, who said they would be arrested peacefully.

Ten people were arrested for violating the ordinance, several of whom were already issued citations for camping earlier that morning. All were released that morning.

City and officials and the media were allowed to stay in the park, but Commissioner Shannon Sykes Nehring was determined to be arrested to show solidarity with protesters. Police reports show she locked arms with a person who was handcuffed and escorted to transport vans waiting on South Street.

According to a report written by Assistant Chief David Boysen, Sykes Nehring demanded to be arrested. Police tape was placed around the transport vehicles to keep back residents who began to crowd the area.

The woman who Sykes Nehring locked arms with was told that she would face charges but not be arrested. Boysen wrote that he did not "want to be in a situation where one of my officers had to forcibly remove Commissioner Sykes."

Boysen wrote that he hoped the commissioner would leave, since the other protesters were already put in the transport van. Instead, she leaned on the hood of the vehicle and "demanded that (police) take her to jail."

The vehicle backed up, but multiple officers reported that Sykes Nehring held on the grill of the vehicle tightly enough that it began to separate from the van. Multiple officers removed her while members of the crowd shouted obscenities at officers, according to police reports.

"It was obvious that Commissioner Sykes' actions were inciting the crowd," Boysen wrote.

She was arrested for resisting and obstructing police.

On Oct. 3, the defendants were arraigned in Kalamazoo County District Court on violations of Kalamazoo city ordinances in connection to their Sept. 19 arrests. If convicted, they face up to 90 days in jail or fines up to $500.

Bronson Park was vacated by 8 a.m. but remained closed for the rest of the day. Later that night, police issued more citations to people who illegally entered the park.

At 5:33 p.m., police encountered a man who crossed the police tape and began shouting about citizens of Kalamazoo revolting against the government. The man was described as "immediately hostile," in a police report.

One man arrested after trying to tear down police tape still wrapped around the park was found carrying marijuana. Another man, who had been arrested earlier, was issued another citation after he was caught riding his bicycle through the park around 8 p.m.

Three men, including two leaders of the protest, were arrested on Sept. 19 on outstanding warrants.