The Brief
- Police officers from Oakland to San Jose have been working overtime shifts, even before the World Cup started, stationed in hotel parking lots to provide extra security for the traveling Australian and Paraguay teams practicing in the Bay Area and playing soccer at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
- But who is paying the local officers, and where is the money coming from?
- The simple answer is that the police officers are being paid by the Bay Area Host Committee. The more nuanced answer is: state and federal tax dollars.
OAKLAND, Calif. – Police officers from Oakland to San Jose have been working overtime shifts, even before the World Cup started, stationed in hotel parking lots to provide extra security for the traveling Australian and Paraguay teams practicing in the Bay Area and playing soccer at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
Who is paying for FIFA police security?
But who is paying the local officers, and where is the money coming from?
The simple answer is that the police officers are being paid by the Bay Area Host Committee, a private organization founded in 2022 whose mission is to “unite the Bay Area through sport.”
The more nuanced answer is that the lion’s share of that money comes from federal and state governments, city documents show, specifically the Department of Homeland Security, and one of its key agencies, FEMA, and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. …