Johns Creek officers and off-duty jobs

The 48-hour rule

This is the provision worth the visit, and it exists because a good detail is a scarce thing.

When a multi-day off-duty job is posted, each officer may sign up for only one shift of it within the first 48 hours. Once the job has been posted for 48 hours or more, an officer may go back and take extra shifts or a greater share of the detail.

It is a rationing mechanism, and a fair one: it stops the first officer at the terminal from taking a whole week's work before the night shift has seen it, without stopping anyone from filling the gaps afterwards. Nothing else in this section publishes a rule for dividing a detail between officers who all want it.

The corollary is that timing matters. A job posts, a window opens, and what you can claim depends on which side of the second day you are looking.

Once signed up, the obligation is yours: an officer must fulfil it unless they find another employee to take it. And being absent or late without good cause brings suspension from future off-duty jobs, for a period the Chief decides — the policy explains why in plain terms, that officers on these details are ambassadors of the department.

Twenty, sixty-five, eighteen

Three numbers govern the hours, and the way they combine is unusual.

An officer may work a maximum of 20 hours of off-duty jobs, or a total of 65 hours of off-duty and regular duty combined, in each calendar week — whichever is less. So a week of heavy overtime does not just cap the details, it can wipe them out: at 50 hours of regular and overtime duty, only 15 hours of off-duty work remain.

On top of that, no officer may work more than 18 consecutive hours, counting regular duty and off-duty jobs together.

All hours are recorded in the department's scheduling system, so the ceiling is administered rather than trusted. That makes Johns Creek one of the few agencies here where the arithmetic is both published and enforced automatically.

Who may not work at all

Eligibility turns on standing rather than seniority, and the policy is direct about it.

An officer must have a satisfactory performance evaluation to be eligible, and continued approval depends on continuing to have one. The duty to report ineligibility is placed on the officer: it is their responsibility to tell their supervisor and the coordinator when a poor evaluation, or anything else, makes them ineligible.

Officers who have not completed field training, or who are on medical or other leave for sickness, temporary disability or an on-duty injury, may not work off-duty jobs at all.

And leave may not be used as a workaround: sick leave and paid administrative leave cannot be used to work a detail, though approved time off, vacation and holiday leave can.

The risk is yours to place

The workers' compensation section is the frankest in this section, and it is worth reading closely because it explains the whole legal shape of a detail.

When an officer takes secondary employment they are contracting with that employer on an individual basis. The contract is between the employee and the secondary employer; the department merely gives consent to use its uniform and equipment. The approval process exists to protect the department's image, to track hours, and to approve what is worn — not to make the city a party.

It follows that the City is not responsible for workers' compensation for injuries during off-duty jobs. The policy then gives the officer advice rather than cover: it is in the employee's best interest to ensure the secondary employer indemnifies them for serious injury and provides liability insurance for civil litigation.

Set that on the spectrum this section keeps returning to. Florida deems a deputy enforcing the law to be on duty; Clay County has the county carry the compensation; Clark County defends its people on duty or off. Johns Creek and Johns Hopkins sit at the other end — you are the employer's, and you should get that in writing.

The department does require the employing entity to complete a hold-harmless and indemnification agreement before any detail is approved. That protects the city. Whether it protects the officer is a separate question the policy leaves to the officer to ask.

On the air, and in the vest

Two operational rules stand out for how absolute they are.

Every officer working an off-duty job must notify communications by radio of their location, radio number, in-service time and badge number, and call out again when the job is finished. The detail is on the air like any other unit.

And if the department uniform is worn, the issued body armour shall be worn, with no exceptions — the policy sets it in capitals. Firearms may only be carried by those properly qualified, certified and authorized.

Department vehicles need the Chief's authorisation. Spare vehicles may be approved where a car is part of the job, but city vehicles are not authorized for neighbourhood security details unless the Chief says otherwise.

What will be refused

The prohibited list runs along two lines: conflict of interest, and threat to the dignity of the profession.

Conflicts include process serving, repossession and bill collecting; private investigation or any job needing access to police records as a condition of employment; using the uniform for non-police tasks; work for a business or labor group on strike; occupations the police agency itself licenses; and assisting case preparation for the defense in a criminal matter or for either side in a civil action — a wider bar than most.

Refused on dignity grounds: adult establishments, businesses whose principal trade is alcohol, gambling premises, escort or limousine services, employers the officer has reason to believe were convicted of a felony or who openly associate with convicted felons, and any business the City regulates.

Approval itself is not meant to be grudging — the policy says it will not be unreasonably withheld where there is no conflict and no effect on the officer's work. And where a job comes up too fast for the paperwork, a shift lieutenant or the coordinator can authorise it and finish the process afterwards.

What this page cannot tell you

The rate is set by the Chief of Police and is not published, so what an hour pays in Johns Creek is not on the open web. Nor is any administrative fee charged to the employer.

What the policy does give an officer is the mechanics of the thing: when to be watching the board, how much of a detail you may take, how many hours the week can hold, and exactly whose insurance is standing behind you.

Common questions

How many hours can a Johns Creek officer work?

Twenty hours a week of off-duty work, sixty-five combined, and no more than eighteen consecutive hours.

How are multi-day details shared out?

By a 48-hour sign-up rule, which rations the long jobs rather than letting one officer take the week.

Is there workers' compensation cover?

The policy leaves it out, so it is a question for the employer rather than something the department answers.