I'm not convinced this is necessarily the worst option? On one hand, the police being paid for by the company for their enforcement, especially so much money,

I'm not convinced this is necessarily the worst option? On one hand, the police being paid for by the company for their enforcement, especially so much money, definitely creates perverse incentives for the police officers to disrupt the protests more than they should. On the other, the police were going to do it anyways because several of the protesters were breaking the law. I'd rather the police be doing this than a private enforcement company who is entirely dependent on the pipeline company, without the additional duties of being a police officer. So I'm not sure where to stand on this.