FBINAA Associate Q1 Magazine

Continued from "The Blind Spot of Administering Off-Duty Employment", on page 38

may have their skills negatively impacted to the same extent as a drunk driver. The headlines prove it. One officer 6 recently made the news when she worked one night for a total of 15 hours between regular and off-duty jobs. She exited on the wrong floor of her apartment building and en - tered a unit she believed to be hers. When she found a man there, the actual tenant, she believed him to be an intruder and fatally shot him. Prosecutors made the case that her decision-making ability was affected by the fact that she worked an excessive amount of hours. FINDING RESOURCES BEFORE A BLIND SPOT MAKES THE HEADLINES Off-duty employment is an important part of law enforcement for agencies, officers, and local businesses looking for height - ened safety and professional security. Off-duty work strengthens bonds between local businesses and agencies and allows officers to gain extra income. According to recent major city audits, most problems with off-duty employment are due to one simple and completely avoidable blind spot: the lack of a centrally adminis - tered program that ensures transparency, oversight, and account- ability of off-duty assignments. Tackling all the tasks related to off-duty programs is some - thing most law enforcement leaders do not have the time or the resources to do. Managing inbound service requests, scheduling jobs, recording time and attendance, and monitoring payroll/ invoicing are just a few administrative functions that can cause departmental headaches. Whether an agency is small or large, they have several ways to approach their off-duty strategy. The first choice agencies have regarding off-duty employ - ment is to eliminate their program altogether and not offer their officers the option to work off-duty jobs. This action is not advis - able because it eliminates the opportunity for privately owned businesses to increase their security while also increasing the public’s sense of security. It also limits officers’ ability to supple - ment their income. Another option is to designate an in-house procedure that will require a significant amount of time and resources given that it must handle scheduling, invoicing, payroll, and insurance. While this may be viable for some agencies, it still requires the salary of at least one staff member or more to effectively super - vise the overall operation of an off-duty program, and this can be costly to a city or municipality. If providing the staff to run an entire off-duty program is too costly, there is always the option to bring in software capabilities that are available to help offset the hours of manual input for ad - ministrative duties. There are multiple technology tools on the mar- ket today that can distribute job notifications, stamp attendance, and show the location of each officer working an off-duty assign - ment. However, agencies need to be aware of the costs associated with purchasing such a platform and there will still be a need for an in-house program administrator, supervision, and related expenses to run the program, plus unmitigated liability exposure. The last approach is to hire a third-party all-inclusive admin- istrator to manage and administer the off-duty program at no cost to the agency or officers. This strategy can often be the most ben - eficial because a third-party company can provide a systematic,

customer service-oriented plan to manage scheduling, payroll, reporting, workers’ compensation, and liability insurance in line with the current policies and procedures of the agency. Some agencies are hesitant to consider this approach as they think they are giving up control of their program. In fact, off-duty service providers incorporate all the agency’s existing policies into the management of the program to ensure officers’ full adherence to the rules while allowing for optimal transparency, accountability, and oversight of their off-duty program. No matter what the choice is, one thing is clear when it comes to an off-duty solution: policies need to be developed and followed to prevent these blind spots from forcing your agency into controversial headlines and public scrutiny. References 1 Kenney, Kara. “City of Columbus paid officers thousands while they worked at hospital, reports show.” WRTV Indianapolis , https://www.wrtv.com/news/ call-6-investigators/city-of-columbus-paid-police-officers-thousands-while- they-worked-at-hospital-audit-shows 2 Chhith, Alex. “Minnesota Supreme Court Says Off-Duty St. Paul Cop Not Entitled to City Defense.” Star Tribune , https://www.startribune.com/ minnesota-supreme-court-says-off-duty-st-paul-cop-not- entitled-to-city defense/600035968/ 3 Department of Justice. “Cincinnati police officer pleads guilty to failing to claim off-duty detail cash earnings on her tax returns,” https://www.justice. gov/usao-sdoh/pr/cincinnati-police-officer-pleads-guilty-failing-claim-duty- detail-cash-earnings-her-tax 4 Rabin, Charles. “Miami police audit: One officer worked 3,714 hours at off-duty jobs in one year.” Miami Herald , https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/ crime/article238996398.html 5 “12th Jersey City officer pleads guilty in off-duty jobs scam,” Associated Press , https://nypost.com/2020/09/30/12th-jersey-city-officer-pleads-guilty-in-off- duty-jobs-scam/ 6 Tsiaperas, Tasha; Wilonsky, Robert. “Dallas cops are working too much at off- duty jobs, and city lacks controls to prevent it, audit says,” The Dallas Morning News , https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2018/11/10/dallas-cops-are- working-too-much-at-off-duty-jobs-and-city-lacks-controls-to-prevent-it- audit-says/ About the Author: Brian Manley served in the Austin, Texas Police Department for 30 years, with his last four as chief of police. Manley worked in many areas of the de - partment and led more than 2,500 sworn law enforcement and support personnel. In 2019, Chief Manley was recognized by Fortune magazine as one of the 50 “World’s Greatest Leaders.” Having recently retired from the Austin Police Department, Chief Manley found an opportunity with Off Duty Management, a company focusing on protecting officers from the potential liabilities they face while working off duty, as it aligned with his continuing commitment to officer wellness and protection. Manley earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas and a master’s de - gree in Organizational Leadership and Ethics from St. Edward’s University in Austin. He is a graduate of the Major Cities Chiefs Association Police Executive Leadership Institute and taught as an adjunct professor in the St. Edward’s University Criminal Justice program.

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