Security costs for Carytown New Year's party

Doubling the number of Richmond police for Carytown's New Year's Eve party and making an emergency lane down the middle of the street have driven up security expenses.

The festival will charge admission for the first time as it faces what organizers say is a more than three-fold increase in security expenses, which will exceed the security cost for the three-day Richmond Folk Festival. That even draws nine times as many people.

Last year's Carytown event had a few incidents -- broken windows, stolen beer and a minor scuffle -- but nothing major, said Raylene Wilkinson, president of the Carytown Merchants Association.

She said she believes those incidents are why police are charging more this year.

"I understand the police point of view . . . we just wish the city would recognize what this event means. It's just that it's a lot of money," said Wilkinson, who also is president of Raylene's Pennyrich, a bra shop on Cary Street.

She said police protection was part of the permit process required by the city, since the event will be on city streets.

Wilkinson said the merchants asked if they could keep the emergency lane to side streets, as is done in most Richmond street festivals, or place the lane down the side, not the middle, of the street, but both requests were denied.

Police Chief Bryan T. Norwood said he is doubling the number of officers because last year's event was understaffed. He said he expects as many as 20,000 people to attend this year's event.

He declined to say how many officers will be on hand, citing security concerns. The contract bills $35 a hour for police officers and says they will be paid for a minimum of four hours even if they don't work that long.

"We felt it would be prudent to increase our staffing . . . in the interest of public safety," Norwood said. He said the decision to double the number of officers was made "after an assessment of last year's event and the number of people that showed up last year."

He declined to discuss any specific incidents from last year, adding: "It was a great event last year. It's going to be an even better event this year."

Norwood said it was the merchants association's decision to hire private security and that he supports that decision.

Hiring private security in addition to police is fairly common at Richmond events, especially where alcohol is involved.

More than half of Venture Richmond's $49,239 security bill for the Folk Festival -- $27,639 -- went for private security, mainly to handle gates and monitor alcohol use.

The group's $25,947 bill for the eight Friday Cheers concerts this year and the $15,343 for the Second Street Festival covered police and private-security services.

In contrast, Venture Richmond's bill for the Easter Parade, where no alcohol is sold, was $4,572, while the Carytown merchants pay $4,000 to $5,000 for security at the booze-less Carytown Watermelon Festival, Wilkinson said.

Now in its third year, the New Year's Eve celebration has grown quickly from a crowd of about 4,000 to 14,000 last year to an expected gathering of 20,000 or more this year, Wilkinson said.

This year's event, like the first two, is centered around the raising of a big, well-lighted ball. Unlike the first two years, there will be a $2 cover charge this year. Gates open at 7 p.m. The National Weather Service forecasts clear skies, with a low around 20 degrees.

The good news, though, is that if things go well this year, the price from police could go back down next year, Wilkinson said she was told.

Paying for police protection isn't out of the ordinary in Richmond, said Jack Berry, head of Venture Richmond, which promotes a variety of local festivals.

"It doesn't sound like they're being treated any different than any other festival or event," he said.

He said the process was usually pretty simple: "The police determine what's needed, and we pay it."
Contact Zachary Reid at (804) 775-8179 or zreid@timesdispatch.com. Contact Reed Williams at (804) 649-6332 or rwilliams@timesdispatch.com.

Staff writer David Ress contributed to this report.