Recent Headline Review – July 2022
Estimated Read Time: 5 minutes
07/25/2022 Police Looking Into Incident Involving NFL Player
An NFL player had a tense exchange with an officer who was working off-duty at Lambeau Field. According to the NFL, the player attended Lambeau Field for a pre-season friendly match between Manchester City and Bayern Munich. A spokesperson for the Green Bay Police Department told reporters that there was a miscommunication between the officer and the player. The matter is being reviewed internally.
Agency Blind Spot:
Officers are always at risk, in this case, a rowdy audience could have ended badly for the officer and everyone else involved. You never know when an off-duty assignment could turn dangerous, hence proper oversight is necessary.
07/26/2022 Two Officers Arrested, Accused of Stealing Thousands
Two officers were arrested on theft charges following allegations that they falsified their timecards by submitting off-duty work hours to the private business that were not worked. They are accused of taking approximately $10,000. If found guilty, they will no longer be eligible to work as law enforcement officers.
Agency Blind Spot:
Agencies without proper oversight of their off-duty program may not know if their officers show up to the job they agreed to work. This creates the possibility that officers are getting paid for work not performed, whether intentionally or accidentally. Either way, this will likely cause controversy for the agency and its off-duty program.
07/27/2022 Can You Buy Peace of Mind? Some Wealthier Neighborhoods Are Trying
The Minneapolis Police Department’s “buyback” program allows organizations, sports teams, or neighborhoods to purchase additional police patrols by hiring off-duty officers. This program has been criticized as inequitable and it stretches the department’s resources even further at a time when some neighborhoods say police are already unresponsive.
Agency Blind Spot:
Equitable off-duty job distribution may not only be a problem for officers, but also for private businesses, and specifically in this case, for surrounding neighborhoods. As police departments allow more overtime or extra-duty, it’s possible they will utilize more resources to coordinate off-duty assignments. Those resources may be better spent securing their communities which seems to be the ultimate goal in this scenario.
08/02/2022 Police Officer Arrested for Stealing $45,000 In Off-Duty Details Not Worked
An officer was arrested for supposedly submitting almost $45,000 in off-duty assignment slips for details he did not work, per court reports. The Detective Bureau started an investigation and found reasonable justification to charge the officer who had requested and received fictitious off-duty assignments. Altogether, police claim that the officer submitted 150 slips for off-duty assignments worth $44,937.32 that he did not work.
Agency Blind Spot:
It’s never a good outcome when an officer fails to work one shift and collects payment, but if an agency does not have a complete off-duty solution with transparent processes in place, tens of thousands of dollars may be unlawfully collected. The police officer’s actions will likely bring discredit to the agency and the agency’s off-duty program.