The April 22 neo-Nazi rally cost the Michigan State Police and Lansing police a total of $258,390.55, most of which was related to overtime expenses for police officers.
In addition, the city-sponsored diversity rally cost about $13,000 to hold, said Randy Hannan, deputy chief of staff for Mayor Virg Bernero.
About $5,000 of that money will be paid for through private fundraising, with the rest paid by the city of Lansing, Hannan said.
"It was worth every penny," Hannan said. "We are going to do (the diversity rally) again next year. It's going to be an annual event."
The Lansing Police Department's total cost was $87,430.50 said Lt. Bruce Ferguson, the department's public information officer. The largest portion, $48,000, went to overtime pay for its sworn and civilian police force.
The Michigan State Police spent a total of $170,960.05 to police the rally — $105,657.06 went toward overtime. The state police had 221 enlisted officers and four civilians on duty.
Overall, state police spent $162,222.15 on wages and benefits. According to police, the money was well spent in keeping a potentially dangerous situation from getting out of hand.
"Overall, we thought the planning was well executed," Ferguson said. "Unfortunately we had a few people arrested. We didn't get any real complaints.
"We had an obligation to keep everyone safe and our property safe and that's what we did."
One group believed the police acted too aggressively in controlling the crowd.
The police often rushed into the crowd for no reason and arrested protesters who were not acting violently, said Jordan Furrow, a spokesman for the Lansing Coalition Against Nazis, or LCAN. The group led some of the protests against the neo-Nazis.
"Our biggest complaint is that there is no doubt the reason the cops were there was to protect the Nazis," Furrow said. "We think this is disgusting."
Police formed a barricade at the entrance to the area designated for Nazi supporters. But that was after protesters entered the area and confronted a group of about 10 supporters.
At one point an anti-Nazi protester tore a swastika from one of the supporter's jacket and lit it on fire. Police on horses quickly rode in to separate the two groups.
LCAN has not yet filed a formal complaint, Furrow said. It is seeking legal counsel to determine their best course of action, he said.
The group was also disappointed that they it was not allowed by police to attend the city's diversity rally, Furrow said.
The decision not to allow the protesters to enter the diversity celebration was made because of safety concerns based on behavior the police witnessed at the rally at the Capitol, Hannan said.
"The mayor stands behind that decision 100 percent," Hannan said.
