Who pays when Memphis police work special events?
Memphis police officers direct traffic while fans arrive for the Tigers game at the FedExForum on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (Brad Vest/he Daily Memphian file)
Many of the officers working Downtown during special events— such as Memphis Grizzlies games, concerts, parades and road races — are often working overtime, picking up extra shifts that taxpayers cover during dozens of events each year.
Organizations ask MPD for help calming traffic, for maintaining order and providing security. All of that costs money.
A recent Memphis Police Department presentation obtained by The Daily Memphian shows that the department does not always bill the entities incurring police overtime, and those organizations also don’t always pay when billed.
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Samuel Hardiman
Samuel Hardiman is an enterprise and investigative reporter who focuses on local government and politics. He began his journalism career at the Tulsa World in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he covered business and, later, K-12 education. Hardiman came to Memphis in 2018 to join the Memphis Business Journal, covering government and economic development. He then served as the Memphis Commercial Appeal’s city hall reporter and later joined The Daily Memphian in 2023. His current work focuses on Elon Musk’s xAI, regional energy needs and how Memphis and Shelby County government spend taxpayer dollars.
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