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

What the ordinance charges

What the officer's time costs: traffic $120/hour, with $95 paid through City directly to officer; all other services $75/hour; schools $55/hour with three-hour minimum; $5/hour administrative fee Minimum per job: school details 3 hours; other minimums not stated in verified text Hours: work must not conflict/interfere with regular duties; no numeric weekly cap stated

The car, and what it costs

The vehicle is priced separately: $20 per hour

Whether the car may go at all: provided.

In the ordinance's own words: “Rate of compensation per hour for police vehicle use: $20.”

66 of the 141 New Jersey towns here price the car by the hour, from $5 to $60. Gloucester City sits above the middle of them at $20, with 34 charging less.

How the work is arranged

Who approves it: Chief of Police; officer's regular off-duty employment requires memo through chain of command and permission from Chief or Chief's PBA designee How a job is arranged: Chief/PBA designee controls off-duty employment; requesting entity funds escrow and assignments are administered under City procedure How the officer is paid: City pays officer; traffic provision states $95 of $120/hour is paid through City directly to officer What is barred: includes process serving, repossession, bill collection, towing, private-sector personnel investigations requiring police data, criminal/civil defense case preparation, strike-related work, Police Department-regulated occupations, sexually oriented businesses, and racist/ethnic/gender subversive groups

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.

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

Vehicles

Set by Gloucester City'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.

• $20 per hour

Every agency here, side by side on vehicles →

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Common questions

What does an off-duty Gloucester City police officer cost?

traffic $120/hour, with $95 paid through City directly to officer; all other services $75/hour; schools $55/hour with three-hour minimum; $5/hour administrative fee

Does Gloucester City charge for the police vehicle?

$20 per hour

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.