New Castle County Police and extra-duty work

The tightest weekly cap we have seen

Outside employment and extra-duty assignments are counted together against a single ceiling of 24 hours a week, measured Monday morning to Sunday midnight. Not 24 hours of details on top of another job — 24 hours of everything.

For comparison: Virginia Beach allows 68 hours, Orlando 72, Florida Highway Patrol 72. New Castle County allows 24.

There is a separate daily limit. An officer working their regular 8, 10 or 11.25-hour shift may add extra duty on the same day, but must not exceed 17.25 hours in any single calendar day running midnight to midnight.

An administrator monitors the totals, but the policy is careful to say this does not relieve the officer of responsibility for staying under the limit. Going over without the Chief's consent draws progressive discipline. The Chief can lift it where the division's interests require.

Approval, and a renewal date all of its own

The Chief of Police must authorise all outside employment in advance and in writing. The request form names the employer, the supervisor, the address, the job title, the nature of the work, the start date and the hours the officer expects to work each week. Self-employment goes through the same form.

Authorisation runs for one year starting 1 July, with a new form due by 30 June. The files are purged annually on that date, and an officer without a current form on file is not authorized to work at all.

That is a fifth different answer to the renewal question across these pages — Seattle uses the hire date, New Orleans the officer's birth month, Virginia Beach 31 December, San Jose the appraisal date, and New Castle County the start of the fiscal year.

Any change in the employment's status has to be reported in writing on the officer's first working day after it happens. Extra-duty work additionally requires completing field training and the vendor's online training first.

What the customer is not

Most policies imply the relationship. This one states it, and the wording is worth having.

Customers have no authority over police, communications, emergency medical services or emergency management personnel. Officers working an extra-duty assignment are not, and shall not be considered, employees or agents of the customer. A customer may identify general duties to be performed — and their rules never supersede county policy, departmental policy, or any local, state or federal law.

The department also protects itself commercially. Approval will not be granted where staffing is inadequate, where an event is potentially compromising, or for customers with invoices more than sixty days unpaid unless payment terms have been agreed.

Rates are set annually by the county's chief financial officer from actual costs. A two-hour minimum is billed for every assignment, and a customer canceling within two hours of the start still pays it — with the scheduled officer paid for those two hours.

And no officer ever collects payment at the job site, in cash or by cheque.

If you are hurt, you are on your own

New Castle County answers the coverage question as bluntly as any agency here, and the answer is no.

The county has no obligation to provide workers' compensation for outside employment, because that work is for the sole benefit of the individual employee rather than the county. Officers working outside employment will not be entitled to any workers' compensation benefits for an injury sustained doing it.

An injury still has to be reported through the same procedure as one occurring on duty — the on-duty shift commander is notified on the officer's next working day and it is documented. But an injury that stops the officer performing their primary role is handled as a non-duty-related injury.

The policy closes the point with a sentence that sums up the arrangement: an officer maintaining outside employment does so as an individual and not as an employee of the Division of Police.

What is prohibited, and when

The same list governs both categories: direct sale or distribution of alcohol and controlled medication, bail bond agencies, investigative work for insurance companies, private investigation, private guard services, collection agencies, investigative work for attorneys, weapons sales, adult entertainment, and dispensaries.

Status bars are extensive. No work while on sick leave, family medical leave (intermittent leave excepted), military leave, administrative leave, light or modified duty, absent through injury, or in any way not fit for full duty. Extra duty adds suspension, a restricted assignment, and being on call and paid for it.

For extra duty the sick-leave bar is defined precisely: it applies where sick leave was used for an entire shift within the 24 hours before the assignment starts.

Rank matters too. No member above senior lieutenant may work extra duty, with exceptions only where exigent circumstances leave nobody else available — and the approval is filed.

On the job, and getting out of one

Every officer carries an 800MHz portable radio, all issued equipment and their body-worn camera. They log in with dispatch at the start giving their identifier, location and duration, stay reachable, and log off at the end. Poor reception means phoning in and leaving a number.

The patrol uniform of the day is required — no dressing down and no specialist unit uniforms unless the assignment specifically asks for them. Officers use their assigned vehicle unless a supervisor approves otherwise. A canine handler whose canine has not been requested works in patrol uniform, without the dog, in a marked pool car with a prisoner partition.

Canceling is deliberately difficult. An officer contacts the scheduling vendor by phone, and remains responsible for the job until another officer takes it. If nobody does, they work it. Sudden illness or emergency routes to the administrator, who will push an emergency notification — but the obligation to find a replacement or appear stays with the original officer.

Supervisors, professional standards and the duty officer run random checks on extra-duty jobs, including verifying through dispatch that officers are signing in and out at the times they should be.