Borough of Highland Park, NJ Article IV Outside Employment of Off-Duty Police Officers

[Adopted 6-1-2010 by Ord. No. 10-1782[1]]

[1] Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed Ord. No. 10-1779, adopted 4-20-2010, regarding off-duty police officers.

§ 64-27 Outside employment with approval of Chief of Police.

Police officers may work for outside private contractors and entities on their off-duty hours with the approval of and provided the Chief of Police determines, in his discretion, that there are sufficient police personnel available, that the outside employment assignment will not interfere with the needs of the Borough, and that sufficient funds have been deposited in advance in an escrow account with the Borough Chief Financial Officer to cover the anticipated costs of such off-duty assignments. The Borough's Chief Financial Officer shall remit invoices to all outside private contractors and entities upon notification from the Police Chief on all outside employment.

§ 64-28 Escrow account; application for services.

A. The Borough has established an escrow account dedicated to the payment of off-duty police officers for outside employment by private contractors or private entities. Any prospective contractor or private entity must apply to the Chief of Police, requesting off-duty police services. The Chief of Police will then notify the Borough Administrator and Chief Financial Officer of the request and forward to them the completed application, when received. The written application shall include the following information:

(1) The dates that off-duty police services and police vehicle(s) will be needed.

(2) An estimate of the number of hours the contractor or private entity anticipates using the off-duty police officer(s) and, if appropriate, police vehicles.

(3) A check to cover the cost of off-duty police services and use of any Borough vehicles based on the estimated number of hours shall be submitted before the start of off duty employment in accordance with state and Division of Local Government Services regulations. No police officer shall work off duty for any private contractor or entity prior to clearance of the funds in the escrow account.

B. If the contractor's or private entity's needs exceed the estimated sum in the escrow account, the Borough Chief Financial Officer (or designee) shall immediately notify the contractor or outside entity that the funds in the escrow account are insufficient to pay for continued off-duty police services. The contractor or private entity shall then either replenish the escrow account with a check sufficient to pay for continued services or the Chief of Police shall immediately terminate provision of the off-duty police services to the contractor or private entity.

C. If the contractor's or private entity's estimated costs exceed the actual costs incurred, then the Borough shall, upon proper notice to the Borough Chief Financial Officer, refund the remainder of the escrow account.

§ 64-29 Timing of requests and payment.

A. All requests for off-duty police services must be made no later than 1600 on the day prior to the request, except in an emergent situation.

B. In event of an emergency situation, where written application for off-duty police services cannot be made prior to the date such service is required, payment for such service must be made to the Borough within 24 hours after the emergency situation has been resolved or concluded. For the purpose of this section, "emergency situation," shall mean any construction, maintenance or repair required to be performed as a result of an unforeseen event or act of God, whereby the private contractor had no prior notice of the condition, and off-duty police services are required for the public safety and welfare, which determination is left in the sole discretion of the Chief of Police.

§ 64-30 Rates.

[Amended 10-5-2010 by Ord. No. 10-1796]

A. Rates for off-duty police services are:

(1) The rate of pay for all off-duty police work for a for-profit business is up to $85 per hour. The rate of pay for all off-duty police work for a nonprofit entity is $65 per hour.

[Amended 4-8-2014 by Ord. No. 14-1861; 2-3-2015 by Ord. No. 15-1878]

(2) The failure of a contractor or private entity to contact the Police Department at least 12 hours in advance of the start of an assignment to cancel the request for off-duty police services will result in a two-hour minimum charge to the contractor or private entity. If an officer accepts an off-duty detail for specific hours and the detail is not worked to completion due to circumstances with the contractor, the officer may accept full compensation for the hours scheduled from the contractor. However, this does not guarantee the officer compensation for all scheduled hours.

(3) In addition to the amounts noted above, a per-hour administrative fee of 15% will be charged to the contractor or private entity.

B. When a Borough police vehicle is available and being utilized as an active traffic control device, the fee charged for use within the Borough is $20 per hour with a minimum of $50, but not to exceed $100. The Highland Park Board of Education, religious institutions and not-for-profit organizations within the Borough shall be exempt from the fees charged for the use of police vehicles.

§ 64-31 Providing of traffic control devices.

The contractor shall be responsible for providing adequate traffic control devices (signs, cones, etc.) in accordance with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (work zone safety). Failure to provide adequate traffic control devices will result in cancellation of the off-duty services.

§ 64-32 Insurance; indemnification.

Whenever a contractor or outside entity contracts with the Borough Police Department for the services of a police officer during his or her off-duty hours to engage in police-related activities, that outside entity must first:

A. The employer shall hold the municipality harmless from any and all claims that may arise as the result of activities or actions of the police officers hired by the employer, which arise during the course of employment. The employer shall provide the municipality, prior to utilization of the municipality's police officer, with a certificate of insurance from an insurance company acceptable to the municipality evidencing not less than a minimum of $1,000,000 in comprehensive general liability (including personal injury with exclusion of A & C deleted), but not less than the employer covers, and $300,000 in property damage, as well as a "Hold Harmless" agreement inuring to the benefit of the municipality and shall maintain said coverage at all times that a police officer of the municipality is employed by the employer. Such indemnity agreement shall be in a form acceptable to the Borough Attorney.

§ 64-33 Provision of other personnel and signage.

In the event a contractor determines not to use off-duty police officers, the contractor must provide for its own traffic control personnel and signage. If the Chief of Police determines that the contractor must utilize off-duty police officers for documented safety purposes, he will notify the contractor in writing, and will notify the Borough Administrator and Borough Chief Financial Officer. In no event does this provision preclude the Chief of Police from using on-duty police officers, at any time, to perform these functions.