NJ Police Racked Up Big Dollars in Overtime for Whitney Houston Funeral

Taxpayers in several New Jersey towns will bear the cost of nearly $199,000 in police overtime for security during Whitney Houston’s funeral.

The Star-Ledger of Newark reports Newark police and the Essex County Sheriff’s Office spent $189,621 in overtime to provide weeklong security for Houston’s family, celebrities and her funeral at New Hope Baptist Church on Feb. 18.

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The newspaper says it cost taxpayers in Westfield $9,000 for police to handle traffic at Fairview Cemetery. The 48-year-old was buried next to her father after an emotional four-hour funeral that was attended by such superstars such as Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Alicia Keys and Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson and Roberta Flack Houston drowned in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in California on Feb. 11.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)