Me and Mrs. Cups often run road races and there is always a number of police around. Usually they’re blocking off the route from general traffic, but we see them doing other things too. How is this job considered in the police community? Is it a cush job? An annoying shift because it’s so early? Are they paid? Do they just sub this shift for another one?
It’s amazing how often we run in races and have never thought about it until now
Probably not this, because there are a lot of other police jobs that require even earlier shifts.
I have over the years work with police at such events, and they mostly like the duty; many think it’s a pretty good detail.
And they most certainly get paid - for example, from this article about the costs of holding the Boston Marathon
IANA cop, but I’d be surprised if they considered it especially onerous duty. I imagine one thinking, “Hey, getting overtime to stand around and watch other people exercise sure beats the hell out of serving search warrants on crack houses, or filling out paperwork at the station.” Really big races, like the Peachtree Road Race or the Boston Marathon, always have a fun, festival vibe that I’m sure the police enjoy as well. I’ve seen runners thanking the cops at every race I’ve been in, too.
But this is just my guess.
I run 5Ks and 10Ks, and I always make a point of thanking the officers and volunteer staff who are working the route as I run past them. I get a lot of smiles and “you’re welcomes!”
I became a fan of the Olympian Bernard Lagat at the 2017 Peachtree Road Race, where he finished third overall, and first master. Instead of heading immediately to the Elite Athlete Hospitality area for a cold drink and a rub-down, he first ran down the finishing chute, shaking hands and saying “thank you” to all the volunteers waiting to hand out bananas and water. He also posed for every person who asked him for a selfie, and thanked the volunteers in his speech at the award ceremony. Very classy guy.
When I was a LEO, these special duties were considered “gravy” jobs. They usually only lasted a couple hours, but paid well over the overtime pay rate. And for something like a race, you might only be needed for half an hour, but it was charged/paid out out at a four hour minimum.