Since the October 1 birth of the original Occupy Seattle encampment at Westlake Park, Seattle has spent $529,609 on police and park staff overtime, along with other costs related to monitoring the camp, according to a public disclosure request filed by Seattle PI reporter Vanessa Ho. The full breakdown of expenses, which covers October 1 thru November 25, is posted here.

Via PI.com:

The latest figure prompted McGinn to say:

“Preservation of public safety – making sure that people can protest, can express themselves, can do so in a way that’s safe to others and protects the rights of overs – that’s important to get it right.”

Jesse Mulert, an organizer with Occupy Seattle, said the group – as taxpayers – wants a “breakdown and justification” of the city’s expenses.

“How is it that that 50-300 peacefully assembled citizens warrant such a concentration of resources?”