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

What the ordinance charges

What the officer's time costs: Ordinance establishes category-specific officer rates and provides for annual CPI-based increases beginning January 1, 2024; the ordinance text should be consulted for the applicable current category. Minimum per job: Officers need not accept an assignment that does not guarantee four hours, though an officer may voluntarily accept less. Hours: Assignments over eight hours are paid at time-and-a-half beginning with the ninth hour; no separate weekly cap is stated in the ordinance.

The car, and what it costs

The vehicle is priced separately: $20.00 per hour or part thereof in the amended ordinance text

Whether the car may go at all: provided.

In the ordinance's own words: “Fee for police vehicle and fuel per hour or part thereof: $10.00$20.00. The necessity for a police vehicle at a particular site will be at the determination of the Off-Duty Employment Intake Manager.”

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

How the work is arranged

Who approves it: Prior written approval by the Off-Duty Employment Intake Manager under authority of the Director of Public Safety. How a job is arranged: Prospective employer obtains prior written approval from the Off-Duty Employment Intake Manager; funds are deposited into the City's Off-Duty Employment Trust Account; the Office of Off-Duty Employment coordinates assignments and billing. How the officer is paid: Employers pay the City trust account; off-duty personnel are paid biweekly from the City-administered account and may not be paid directly by the employer. What is barred: Off-duty personnel may not work on an Alcohol Beverage Control licensed premise and generally may not accept off-duty employment under the ordinance from another Jersey City governmental agency except the Jersey City Housing Authority.

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 Jersey 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.

• $20.00 per hour or part thereof in the amended ordinance text

Every agency here, side by side on vehicles →

Common questions

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

Ordinance establishes category-specific officer rates and provides for annual CPI-based increases beginning January 1, 2024; the ordinance text should be consulted for the applicable current category.

Does Jersey City charge for the police vehicle?

$20.00 per hour or part thereof in the amended ordinance text

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.