As AOL Music previously reported, Whitney Houston's funeral cost New Jersey $187,000. With taxpayers angry over the high dollar amount, the mayor of Newark, Cory Booker, has issued a statement.

"As with any major event, and Ms. Houston's funeral was an international event, our police department's priority is to keep both citizens and visitors alike safe when they come to our city."

According to CBS New York, the large cost of the funeral was due to Newark police overtime. However, the cash-strapped city's major funding of Houston's funeral service has outraged residents who claim there are better things to pay top dollar for -- including crime reduction and homeless assistance.

Despite the funeral taking a 5 percent bite out the city's police budget, Newark Councilwoman Mildred Crump claimed "If they [the police] had not been there, someone may have been trampled, seriously hurt."

Remembering Whitney Through Photos

%VIRTUAL-MultiGallery-147130|145290|152455|152014|149363%



Whitney Houston's Final Autopsy Results
Watch Whitney Houston's 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody' Video
if(typeof AOLVP_cfg==='undefined')AOLVP_cfg=[];AOLVP_cfg.push({id:'AOLVP_74905803001','codever':0.1,'autoload':false,'autoplay':false,'displaymnads':true,'playerid':'89761511001','videoid':'74905803001','width':476,'height':357,'playertype':'inline','stillurl':'dynamic','videolink':'#','videotitle':'dynamic','videodesc':''});

More From TheBoombox