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by jmccree 4493 days ago
As I mentioned to the other poster, off duty officers here (and many/most places) work in their department issued uniform with their badge/radio/gun with full police powers/immunity. Besides neighborhood patrols, another common use is parking garages or high end shopping centers hiring officers to stop traffic to let people in/out of their location on busy streets. It's not just ATL, NYPD paid detail unit supplies off duty in unform officers with dept insurance. Many police department websites even have online forms to fill out if you want to hire officer/s with standard rates.

I believe there are a few states/jurisdictions that restrict off duty officers from working in uniform w/police power, but that's probably a minority. With budgets being cut everywhere, officers being able to earn an extra 50% or more of their normal salary working off duty gigs is a "free benefit" the department can offer, or like in NYC where the NYPD charges a 10% admin fee ($1.18m earned in 2011) it's extra income for the dept.

For example, if Facebook was located in San Jose, they could just pay $46.50/hr for as many officers as they wanted, in unform, per http://www.sjpd.org/PDF_Forms/SEU_Secondary_Employment_Emplo... .
1 comments
lutusp 4493 days ago
> As I mentioned to the other poster, off duty officers here (and many/most places) work in their department issued uniform with their badge/radio/gun with full police powers/immunity [emphasis added].

Your claim is false, and you need to learn constitutional law. A police office working as a private security guard is not acting as an agent of the police, he is acting as an agent of whomever hired him, and he does not have police powers. He can make the same arrests that a citizen can make, but has no official police powers.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_police

Quote: "Private police lack the same arrest powers of government law enforcement, but do have the right to make a citizens arrest if they actually witness a crime happening."

The above means that off-duty police officers are citizens, not police officers. It's considered desirable to learn a topic before posting about it, not after.

Link: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Does_a_security_officer_have_the_p...

Quote: "Q: Does a security officer have the police power to make an arrest in new jersey? A: No, NJ does not give Private Security officers/guards any special police powers to execute an arrest. You only have the power to make a citizens arrest."

Shall I go through all 50 states for you?

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jmccree 4493 days ago
You'd first need to show at least one state where off duty officers lack arrest authority.

NJ Statute Quote: "40A:14-152.1. Municipal police officer; power of arrest for crime committed in his presence anywhere within state. Notwithstanding the provisions of N.J.S. 40A:14-152 or any other law to the contrary, any full-time, permanently appointed municipal police officer shall have full power of arrest for any crime committed in said officer's presence and committed anywhere within the territorial limits of the State of New Jersey."

There is no mention of requiring the officer to be on duty, and plenty of cities in NJ off in-uniform off duty officers. For example, Jersey City municipal code, ยง 3-85.1 Off-duty employment, includes:

"Purpose. For the convenience of those persons which utilize the services of off-duty law enforcement officers of the Jersey City Police Department, and to authorize the outside employment of Police while off-duty, the City of Jersey City hereby establishes a policy regarding the use of off-duty officers in compliance with Attorney General Formal Opinion 1997-No. 23."

You can read about the 11k officers that participate in the NYPD paid detail unit here, http://www.nycpba.org/archive/nydn/03/nydn-030810-ot.html . In Atlanta, Midtown Blue is "Comprised of more than 40 off-duty Atlanta Police Department (APD) officers with full powers of arrest". ( http://midtownatl.com/about/programs-and-projects/public-saf... ) In Miami, you can hire a police Lt for $50.50/hr. ( https://was8exp.miamidade.gov/MDPDOffDutyWeb/home.do ) In Denver, off duty police may not work at pot shops, but "Officers may act to prevent a breach of the peace or to enforce the law, but officers shall not enforce rules made in the interest of the secondary employer." ( http://www.denvergov.org/Portals/720/documents/OperationsMan... ) In Durham, NC when you hire an off duty officer you get a " Law Enforcement (LE) Officer who is authorized to Enforce NC State Laws and Durham City Ordinances" ( http://durhamnc.gov/ich/op/DPD/Pages/Secondary-Info.aspx ). Shall I go on?

If you want to make some type of claim that any of the extensive off duty police employment (or even arrest powers) that happens is somehow theoretically unconstitutional at a federal or state level, I'd love to hear that argument and reasoning, but it's important to separate legal theory with the practiced and enforced laws. In most states, officers have their police authority on and off duty.

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