Texan, July 09: Police in the Texan city of Dallas has trimmed high security measures intended to protect former US president George W. Bush over recession woes.
The Dallas Police Department announced on Wednesday it has reduced fortifications around the Preston Hollow, home of the ex-US president over costs.
The Bush house was protected by multilayer security, including ‘Secret Service protection and on-duty tactical officers’ amongst other ordinary safety measures, some of which had to be eliminated due to the city’s increasing budget deficit.
Local media quoted an unnamed informed police officer as saying that an estimated $300,000 had to be truncated off the original scheme in the face of the $190 million municipal cash deficit that will see around 200 members of the police force lose their jobs.
“We just had to cut it,” the security official said, “We’re about to layoff people.”
Earlier this year, Dallas police department authorities had indicated that efforts to provide security around the residence of the former president topped an annual $1 million of US taxpayer money.
The figure was based on the cost of providing at least two officers per each eight-hour shift on a 24-hour basis for one year, Dallas news reported.
The security spending for the Bush family comes in the wake of a 2007 economic downturn that has left many American seeking out credit to pay for daily expenses.
—–Agencies