Part Time LEOs cannot work off duty jobs.

[mojo84]

It's a shame some just look for opportunities to take unnecessary and uncalled for potshots at others. Having cops as part of the church security team is beneficial to all involved including the passing public when the cops are working traffic which makes for safer ingress and egress.

[SQLGeek]

Sounds like your ax to grind is with your chief who lied to you out of ignorance or maliciousness. Sorry to hear that.

[nightmare69]

Please loose the attitude. You haven't been in long enough to gripe and getting snippy with people on the internet because you're not happy with the compensation for the career that you chose looks bad. There are enough police apologists out there.

Just cause Im a rookie does not mean I don't have the right to vent and voice my opinion. Im sorry if you think it looks bad but Im getting some good advise. This is a huge issue for me and the outcome will determine whether I stay with this department or seek other employment to get the hours I need to survive.

I think other LEO have done a great job of answering this but I'll stick my two cents in. Welcome to the real world. Many people are in the same boat with one exception, they don't have the benefit of laws generated in order to create an artificial market where they can make $35/hr cash standing around doing nothing. How many of those extra duty jobs do you think there would be if churches weren't prohibited from using CHLs on safety teams? Or if other charitable organizations were allowed to do the same?
You want to talk about being away from your family? I worked a job where I didn't know what country I would be in from one week to the next in order to provide for my family.
Think before I post? Great advice. Maybe you should have taken it before you started this whining thread.

What law says that you have to pay $35/hr for off duty LEOs? People will pay good money to feel safe, people like seeing a patrol car outside a business and a uniformed LEO at the entrance. Its a great deterrent for crime vs a CHL holder or security guard.

Google "average police officer salary in texas". An officer making $14.30 an hour after 6 years might want to look for another department. That is low starting salary level in low paying department.

Some departments are poor and don't have the money to compete with the bigger departments. The Sheriff only make 36k a year, the pay was the main reason I found another job.

They aren't worth $35/hr. That's the point - it's an artificially created market by lobbyist. In a free market it would be more like $15/hr paid by payroll check. I also take issue with the whole "cash payment". Everyone in the real world would have to make $55 to $60/hr to walk away with $35/hr in our pocket.
Of course the money to pay those off duty officers those absurd hourly amounts ultimately comes out of the pockets of the average guy whose just trying to put food on the table.
It is time to change some laws - changes that would allow the free market to function properly.

If you feel that way then don't do business with anyplace who employess off duty LEOs. Aware me on how its not a free market and who created and set the price?

I have friends who work in the DFW area and a few places there pay $45hr plus for uniformed LEOs. I can also get free or reduced rent at an apartment complex to be their courtesy officer and answer calls within the complex. One of the perks of being a licensed peace officer. If I could make it through the police academy anyone could.

[nightmare69]

Sounds like your ax to grind is with your chief who lied to you out of ignorance or maliciousness. Sorry to hear that.

No he didn't lie and he had no idea of this law. He is a good man and Ill put my faith that we can find a solution.

[talltex]

...have they ever really needed them to "arrest troublemakers" at your church services? Ya'll must have some really interesting services!

Our church is a small church and I have had three people arrested in the last three years including one this last Easter.

I guess you have missed the church shootings.

Well, I guess you're right...that never occurred to me at all. I've been a member of the same (very conservative) church since I was born, and at least in my lifetime, the closest thing to an "incident" we ever had occurred during a discussion on whether it was time to allow women to read scripture during the services, when I spoke up and corrected another Elder's emphatic declaration the "Jesus said women aren't allowed to speak in Church". I pointed out that it was actually St. Paul that said that, not Jesus, and that he also said women should keep their heads covered, not braid their hair or wear any golden adornments or pearls, but we ignored that part, as well as his admonition that an Elder or Pastor must be "the husband of one wife" since we now ordained divorced men and he, an Elder himself, had been divorced. This, a public disagreement, was considered "scandalous" by our standards and years later is still only spoken about in "hush hush" tones, so the idea of actual physical altercations just wasn't even in my mind. I apologize if I offended anyone.

[talltex]

It's a shame some just look for opportunities to take unnecessary and uncalled for potshots at others. Having cops as part of the church security team is beneficial to all involved including the passing public when the cops are working traffic which makes for safer ingress and egress.

I'll just have to disagree with you on this issue. I live in a small rural town, so traffic is not an issue here at all. But I've done business in the DFW and Austin metro areas for many years, and it's an everyday occurrence there for many corporate employers who are willing to pay the small hourly cost to have an off duty LEO on hand, because it's a perk for their employees to be able to exit the parking lots quickly without hassle. I'll grant you that it may enhance safety to some degree, but I honestly don't think, that's the primary motive.

[victory]

If I could double my pay by taking a one week class, I would jump at the opportunity. I woudn't waste a second complaining on the internet that it was unfair, redundant or superfluous. At least not until after I doubled my pay.

[nightmare69]

If I could double my pay by taking a one week class, I would jump at the opportunity. I woudn't waste a second complaining on the internet that it was unfair, redundant or superfluous. At least not until after I doubled my pay.

If I did take the class I would be working under a armed security license and not my peace officers license. I would not be able to arrest but only detain and call police. The public wants police officers over security guards as they feel safer with police presence. I would have trouble finding work as a security guard.

[Cedar Park Dad]

At my church, we didn't mind paying extra to get LEO instead of private security, because LEO were able to arrest troublemakers, they could block traffic on the public roads following services, and they knew the local trouble-makers.

It was good for the police department, as well, just because of the interaction between the officers and the congregation.

THERE is the real reason the LEO's get more money than private security services...they have the AUTHORITY to grant special privileges to those willing to pay for them. The use of off-duty LEO's to direct traffic is a prime example. Your congregation is willing to pay them because it gives you a privilege you could not otherwise have, while at the same time, it inconveniences everyone else attempting to use the same public street...which they paid for the same as your congregation did. C'mon...have they ever really needed them to "arrest troublemakers" at your church services? Ya'll must have some really interesting services!

Agreed actually. On Sunday to get back home I have to cross paths with two mega churches. Both will have PoPo block up a major thoroughfare like bad Mexican food, and they do it AT THE SAME TIME. Turns a 15 minute trip into a 456 minute trip.

[Cedar Park Dad]

It's a shame some just look for opportunities to take unnecessary and uncalled for potshots at others. Having cops as part of the church security team is beneficial to all involved including the passing public when the cops are working traffic which makes for safer ingress and egress.

Actually no. It makes for more convenienet egress and ingress for your parishioners.

We've hired security in the past and will do so again in the future (I'm on the vestry), but we only do it for traffic control.

Downtown where I work, police are used to block traffic to let cars out. As the poster noted above, its a convenience for them only.

EDIT: I have nothing against the police. I don't think this is a police issue. Can you be "classed" as full time or is there some sort of standard that says you meet this full time requirement. Frankly who verifies this?

[Jim Beaux]

...have they ever really needed them to "arrest troublemakers" at your church services? Ya'll must have some really interesting services!

Our church is a small church and I have had three people arrested in the last three years including one this last Easter.

I guess you have missed the church shootings.

Just how does one go about getting arrested in church...bad singing? Details please.

[Cedar Park Dad]

...have they ever really needed them to "arrest troublemakers" at your church services? Ya'll must have some really interesting services!

Our church is a small church and I have had three people arrested in the last three years including one this last Easter.

I guess you have missed the church shootings.

Just how does one go about getting arrested in church...bad singing? Details please.

Well if the crowd is light and the priest has to finish all that wine off by himself...

[WildBill]

It's a shame some just look for opportunities to take unnecessary and uncalled for potshots at others. Having cops as part of the church security team is beneficial to all involved including the passing public when the cops are working traffic which makes for safer ingress and egress.

Actually no. It makes for more convenienet egress and ingress for your parishioners.

We've hired security in the past and will do so again in the future (I'm on the vestry), but we only do it for traffic control.

Downtown where I work, police are used to block traffic to let cars out. As the poster noted above, its a convenience for them only.

EDIT: I have nothing against the police. I don't think this is a police issue. Can you be "classed" as full time or is there some sort of standard that says you meet this full time requirement. Frankly who verifies this?

A little off topic, but a few days ago I was on I45 during the morning commute when a "wide load" took up two lanes of traffic. The flatbed truck had two HPD motorcycle police escorts.

[mojo84]

It's a shame some just look for opportunities to take unnecessary and uncalled for potshots at others. Having cops as part of the church security team is beneficial to all involved including the passing public when the cops are working traffic which makes for safer ingress and egress.

Actually no. It makes for more convenienet egress and ingress for your parishioners.

Go make that case to the folks that t-boned the people in front of me that was turning into the church parking lot in Voss Rd. one morning when the cop was running late.

While it may provide smoother ingress and egress, it improves safety.

[EEllis]

I also think it crazy a commissioned officer "qualified" to work as a security guard. Whatever perceived training deficiencies could easily be addressed without requiring a cop to get a security guard license.

Basically it isn't only training but the fact that they are only "police" when they are on duty. When you hire off duty cops you can think about it as paying for them to be cops that happen to be at the location you want. Reserve officers don't have police powers when they are not on the clock and then there are the liability issues, insurance, etc. And if you think most cops really know the laws for working security you are sadly mistaken. Of course most security don't either but at least in theory they are supervised and told by their employer what they can and can't do.