We were pleased to see Denver’s new police chief, Robert White, promptly wade into the thicket of police department operations by stating publicly last week that he wants to see more cops on the beat.
He very well may take some heat for that from a police department that is, in some regards, set in its ways.
While White is in the mood to take on sacred cows, we have another one for the chief’s consideration: How about police off-duty work practices?
This is a lucrative area that is ripe for reform. Basically, officers wearing a Denver Police Department uniform can cut their own deals to hire themselves out to private businesses and make a lot of money.
The department allows officers to log up to 32 hours of off-duty work a week in addition to their regular shifts. That seems like too much for anything other than an emergency situation.
Another concern is that the city is on the hook if something goes wrong and an officer is found culpable or is injured while moonlighting.
A better way of organizing this work would be to have it all go through the police department — both scheduling and payroll. White should give that idea a thorough look.
For some of the off-duty work that officers do, they are paid directly and the city receives nothing to put aside in case an officer is hurt on the job or engages in action that results in a lawsuit. That should change.
Unlike most other city employees, police officers are considered to be on the job 24 hours a day. So it makes sense that they are covered for police actions they take when they are not officially on shift. They could come upon a robbery or some other incident where their intervention is needed.
But f they are being compensated by an outside employer, that employer should pay a designated amount that the city can put aside in case of a claim.
We also understand how police doing off-duty work or working overtime can be a benefit to the city. That’s because taxpayers can have more officers on the street on occasions when it’s necessary without picking up the costs of additional permanent staffing.
Yes, this is a sticky wicket and changing off-duty policies may not be very popular with rank-and-file officers who have a nice little side business in this kind of work.
As we said at the outset, we’re glad the chief is looking at force deployment and whether there are enough officers on patrol duty.
There likely are many areas the chief will find of interest as he becomes more familiar with Denver’s police department.
A fresh set of eyes, particularly those belonging to someone as experienced as White, may lead to better ways of running the department.
We hope Denver’s police officers have an open mind about potential changes, including the matter of off-duty work.
