Security for ex-Sheriff David Clarke has topped $220K in 2017: report

Milwaukee County, Wis., spent more than $220,000 in 2017 to provide around-the-clock protection for former Sheriff David Clarke, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Wednesday.

Acting Sheriff Richard Schmidt said that the protecting policy was put in place because of the “multiplicity of threats” against Clarke, the controversial former sheriff and ally of President Trump, who left his post late last month.

He joined the pro-Trump America First Action super PAC as a spokesman and senior adviser last week.

Schmidt said that he is reviewing the policy that provides protection for Clarke, according to the Journal Sentinel. In the meantime, a sheriff’s deputy will still patrol Clarke’s house in Milwaukee. 

{mosads}In a federal court filing, attorneys for Clarke detailed more than two dozen threats against the ex-sheriff.

Clarke has been under the protection of a security detail since the summer of 2016, according to the Journal Sentinel, meaning the final tally of the cost to protect him will likely be much higher.

According to the Journal Sentinel, official documents show that deputies spent more than 6,000 hours protecting Clarke’s home, and received an average of $24.50 per hour for their work.

That amounts to more than $155,000 in regular pay. With benefits, the total goes up to $266,802, according to the newspaper.

— Updated at 8:55 a.m.