Audubon and off-duty police work

Why this is published at all

New Jersey is the only state where you can look up what a patrol car costs on a detail, town by town, and the reason is statutory. The Attorney General and the Division of Local Government Services determined that municipal officers may work off duty for private parties — and state law then requires that the assignment be arranged by contract with the municipality, not with the officer. So the town has to set the price, and it sets it in an ordinance that anyone can read.

So what follows is not a policy manual. It is Audubon's own ordinance, and it says what the town charges.

What the ordinance charges

Minimum per job: four-hour show-up applies to weather cancellations without proper notification

The car, and what it costs

The vehicle is priced separately: $125.00 per day of service

Whether the car may go at all: provided.

In the ordinance's own words: “Compensation for the use of police vehicles shall be one hundred twenty-five dollars ($125.00) per day of service, regardless of the number of hours actually served by an officer.”

13 of these towns price the car by the day instead, from $40 to $200. Audubon's $125 is above the middle of that group.

How the work is arranged

Who approves it: Police off-duty employment is subject to the restrictions and limitations in the Borough code and police administration. How a job is arranged: administered under the Borough's police off-duty/extra-duty provisions; Chief reports to Director of Public Safety and recommends rates annually What is barred: Police officers' ordinary off-duty employment must not be law-enforcement in nature, require police powers, create a conflict of interest, or occur during assigned duty hours. Listed conflict examples include process serving, repossessions, bill collection, towing, and collection of money/merchandise for private purposes.

What the ordinance does not say

An ordinance sets the terms of the contract between the town and whoever hires the officer. It is not a conduct policy, and this one does not deal with who carries the liability, what may be worn or any weekly hour cap.

Those answers, where they exist, sit in the department's own rules and this page has not read them.

Vehicles

Set by Audubon's own ordinance, which is how New Jersey prices off-duty police work — the town contracts with the employer, so the town sets the fee.

• $125.00 per day of service

Every agency here, side by side on vehicles →

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Common questions

What does an off-duty Audubon police officer cost?

The ordinance sets the rate; the figure is in the section linked below.

Does Audubon charge for the police vehicle?

$125.00 per day of service

Who arranges an off-duty job in New Jersey?

The municipality. State law requires the assignment to be arranged by contract with the town rather than privately with the officer, which is why the town publishes a rate at all.