Bergenfield 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 Bergenfield's own ordinance, and it says what the town charges.

What the ordinance charges

What the officer's time costs: $115/hour effective 2026-01-01; 20% administrative fee; $5/hour Good and Welfare allocation withheld and transferred to officer bargaining agent Minimum per job: 4 hours Hours: no officer may work more hours than specified in the approved request

The car, and what it costs

The vehicle is priced separately: $100 per day or part thereof for first 8 hours; $10/hour beyond 8 hours, effective 2026-01-01

Whether the car may go at all: provided.

In the ordinance's own words: “Fee for police vehicle and fuel per day or part thereof (a day is defined as eight straight hours): $100. Use of a vehicle beyond eight hours shall be at a rate of $10 per hour thereafter effective January 1, 2026.”

66 of the 141 New Jersey towns here price the car by the hour, from $5 to $60. Bergenfield sits below the middle of them at $10, with 2 charging less.

How the work is arranged

Who approves it: Chief of Police or designee How a job is arranged: requests go to Chief/designee; requester funds Borough Off-Duty Employment Escrow Account before the job is posted How the officer is paid: all employer payments go directly to Borough escrow; officer is treated as a Borough employee for the assignment What is barred: work may be denied if inconsistent with efficient Department functioning/reputation or if it unreasonably threatens officer safety

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 or what may be worn.

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

Vehicles

Set by Bergenfield'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.

• $100 per day or part thereof for first 8 hours; $10/hour beyond 8 hours, effective 2026-01-01

Every agency here, side by side on vehicles →

BlueShifts. Plan Your Year. Own Your Time.

The shift calendar built for your rotation, off-duty work, and life on and off the clock.

Save your shift schedule once and BlueShifts fills the rest of the year in.

Download on theApp StoreGet it onGoogle Play

Common questions

What does an off-duty Bergenfield police officer cost?

$115/hour effective 2026-01-01; 20% administrative fee; $5/hour Good and Welfare allocation withheld and transferred to officer bargaining agent

Does Bergenfield charge for the police vehicle?

$100 per day or part thereof for first 8 hours; $10/hour beyond 8 hours, effective 2026-01-01

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.