While Governor Mike Pence is out of the state and on the campaign trail, Indiana taxpayers are stuck paying the skyrocketing overtime bill for the special team of state troopers protecting him as governor.
Indiana State Police’s Executive Protection Section is tasked with protecting Indiana's Governor, the First Lady and Lieutenant Governor.
And even though campaigning for vice-president is far from "official state business," that unit still has to protect the governor wherever he is.
Since Pence was elected Governor of Indiana in 2012, the Executive Protection Section has filed more than 5,000 hours of overtime at a cost of roughly $178,000.
Before Pence became Trump’s running mate, the Executive Protection Section filed an average of 126.3 hours of overtime per month, costing taxpayers an average of $4,219.65 in overtime per month.
The Executive Protection Section (EPS) is tasked with providing security for the Governor, the Governor's spouse, and the First Family of Indiana. Responsibilities include personal protection, scheduling, transportation, intelligence gathering, and other security related functions. This requires that the EPS members work closely with other state, local, and federal agencies to complete their mission. (Indiana State Police)
“The State Police would provide this protection whether the Governor was involved in the current national campaign or not.”
That number shot up 335 percent in July, when Pence was picked to be Trump's vice-presidential nominee, according to state police overtime records obtained through public records request made by Call 6 Investigates.
In July 2016, the Executive Protection Unit had 549.5 hours of documented overtime, adding up to more than $19,500.
Then in August, the amount of overtime declined slightly to 399 reported hours of overtime, but that cost still added up to more than $15,000.
Call 6 Investigates asked Pence’s campaign manager, Marc Lotter, about the overtime and if they planned to reimburse the state for the costs involved in having troopers on the campaign trail with the Governor.
“The Indiana State Police have provided security to the Governor for decades. The Pences appreciate the dedicated work of the Indiana State Police,” Lotter responded in an email. “The State Police would provide this protection whether the Governor was involved in the current national campaign or not.”
Lotter goes on to say, “The Trump-Pence campaign is covering the lodging and travel costs of the state trooper traveling with the Governor, so the taxpayers are not incurring that expense.”
Through publicly-available state records, Call 6 Investigates was able to determine that 15 troopers are currently assigned to the Executive Protection Unit.
Win or lose for Governor Pence in the presidential election, the Executive Protection Unit will continue to assign officers to protect him through the end of his term as the state's governor at the end of 2016.
It’s unclear how many of those troopers travel with the governor before or after he was named a vice-presidential nominee, but state police say there are "always" troopers following the governor.
“Our staffing for security of Governor Pence has not changed,” said Captain David Bursten, Indiana State Police’s Chief Public Information Officer. “We do not speak to the specifics of our staffing, nor do we provide information on salary expense for personnel assigned as that is just a backdoor method of determining how many personnel are assigned.”
Troopers from Indiana State Police aren’t the only ones protecting the governor on the campaign trail. After Pence became the official vice-presidential nominee, the United States Secret Service was also tasked with protecting Governor Pence and his wife.
Changes at the Governor's Mansion
When Governor Mike Pence started receiving Secret Service protection, security was boosted at the Governor’s Residence on the corner of 46th Street and North Meridian Street.
New lighting was constructed, a command bus moved in, guard shacks were placed in the front yard and concrete barriers along the edge of the property were added.
The Executive Protection unit isn’t tasked with protecting the residence.
Another division of Indiana State Police, the State Capitol Police, are responsible for protecting the residence.
Both the Secret Service and State Capitol Police have a large presence at the home around-the-clock.
The last time the Governor's Residence received a security update was in 2014 when wrought-iron gates were added to the entrances on Meridian Street and 46th Street.
While Indiana taxpayers aren't the only ones responsible for the increased security around Gov. Pence's residence and elsewhere around the country with the addition of Secret Service protection, they share the federal burden to the tune of a $203 million budget for the 2016 fiscal year at the federal level for presidential candidate protection.
That number is a large increase over 2012 during the last presidential election, in part because only the GOP had a competitive primary. In that election year, $113 million was budgeted for candidate protection, according to MSNBC.
Protection costs can be in the range of $38,000 per day for each presidential candidate, according to 2008 testimony from former Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan.
.@SecretService depart via motorcade with @GovPenceIN at #RNCinCLE #RNC2016 pic.twitter.com/AQeq0ra6tU
— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) July 20, 2016
