Orlando Police and extra-duty employment

Three kinds of work, and the coverage differs

Extra-duty employment is police work, approved by the department and — importantly — paid through the City's own payroll rather than by the customer. Outside employment is non-police work needing no authority or equipment. Non-law enforcement security services is a third category of its own: locking gates, checking lights, bodyguard work, chauffeuring.

Which one you are in decides whether you are covered, and Orlando lands somewhere most agencies do not. Officers working extra duty paid through city payroll are treated as though on duty for workers' compensation, and get the agreement's defense and indemnity protections as if working on duty.

That is the reverse of Florida Highway Patrol and Seattle, where state protections drop away during private-sector work. The difference follows the money: where the city pays, the city covers.

The other two categories get no such thing. Outside employment carries no city liability or workers' compensation at all. Non-police security work requires the officer to carry their own general liability policy covering false arrest, detention, libel, privacy, assault and battery and firearms — minimum $100,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence — and they may not use department equipment or identify themselves as Orlando officers while doing it.

A weekly cap that pauses for the holidays

Extra duty combined with voluntary overtime and normal city hours must not exceed 72 hours in a week running Sunday to Saturday. An exception can be requested in writing from a section commander.

And then the provision we have not seen anywhere else: the limit does not apply between 1 October and 2 January. Three months of the year, in a city whose economy runs on visitors, the ceiling simply lifts.

Everything else stays in force through it — the body-worn camera has to be on for the entire extra-duty shift, and a handheld department radio carried and monitored throughout.

The courtesy officer

Orlando gives a name and a rulebook to an arrangement most agencies leave undefined: a sworn officer working security at the apartment or condominium complex where they live, in exchange for any compensation — discounted rent and free services included.

It requires the work agreement and the executed lease to be submitted for review, with renewals documented as they happen, and approval from the officer's section commander.

The operational limits are the interesting part. A courtesy officer wears the approved uniform and duty gear before taking any police action where possible, and notifies dispatch before responding to any priority call. For anything involving violence or a domestic incident, they wait for on-duty officers to arrive — the only exception being where immediate intervention is needed to prevent death or serious harm.

It is a careful answer to a genuinely awkward situation: an officer policing the building they sleep in.

Coordinators, and what they may charge

A private employer may select an officer as an extra-duty coordinator to arrange staffing for their site, and pay them for it. The department caps what that is worth.

Coordinator fees run through city payroll like everything else, and may not exceed four hours of pay in a week, charged at the highest rate for the job. An officer may coordinate a maximum of three jobs, there is only ever one coordinator per job, and coordinating happens on the officer's own time.

The pointed rule: no fee may be charged where the coordinator's only task is posting the job in the app.

All of it runs through that app. An officer who chooses not to install it cannot sign up for voluntary extra duty at all, and the app pings the phone at log-in, log-out and on the quarter hour. Officers may not amend their recorded times, and jobs are closed out within 24 hours.

Requesting a replacement does not release you. The job stays on your schedule until somebody else actually takes it.

Bars, and what an officer is not there to do

Officers working licensed premises are expected to know the liquor and adult entertainment laws, and to enforce the closing sequence: sales stop at 2am, alcohol cleared by 2.30, no re-entry after 2am, everyone out by 3am — each an hour later on New Year's Day.

Two provisions protect the officer from the employer. The venue may not confine officers to any area open to customers, and officers must inspect all customer areas at least hourly and take enforcement action where needed. Any conflict with the employer over this goes straight to the on-duty watch commander.

And the line that matters most: officers will not serve as bouncers or physically remove guests, unless furthering a criminal investigation or making an arrest.

Probationary officers cannot work venues whose principal business is alcohol, and authorisation for licensed premises comes only from a division commander. Coordinators must verify the liquor license at the outset and annually.

Published rates, and event staffing

Orlando prints what a city vehicle costs on an extra-duty job, which is rare: a motorcycle at $1 an hour, a marked or unmarked car at $2 an hour, a pickup at $35 for an eight-hour shift and a marine patrol vessel at $75. Using a vehicle purely to travel to and from the job, with no patrol function, is free and a watch commander can authorise it.

Event staffing is a formula rather than a judgement. Seven or more officers requires a supervisor. Every three supervisors requires an event commander of lieutenant rank or above. Events over twenty officers get their own radio channel and a dispatcher. Large events need a written operational plan submitted a fortnight ahead.

On arrests, the officer reverts to on-duty status and city pay once the extra-duty shift ends or the incident takes them away from the site for a significant period — and the policy states the absolute plainly: under no circumstances is a member paid by both the city and the employer for the same time.