A Minneapolis City Council committee unanimously passed a proposed ordinance that would allow the city to recoup some funds from officers’ off-duty police work.
Due to a court case from the mid-1990s, Minneapolis police officers are allowed to work off-duty, which usually entails officers doing private security work for businesses and outside groups including bars, banks and construction sites. The officers are paid by the outside organizations, but they can use city weapons, squad cars and uniforms during their work, and they are under city liability.
The ordinance, authored by Council Members Robin Wonsley and Elliott Payne, would allow the city to collect fees for officers doing this work. The Minneapolis Police Department says “the specific methods for establishing and collecting fees, and determining payment responsibility, are still under consideration.”
The council’s Public Health and Safety Committee passed the ordinance Wednesday afternoon by a 6-0 vote. The ordinance will go before the full City Council next Thursday for a final vote.
RELATED STORIES
Wonsley said the ordinance is an effort she has been working on for years, and will allow the city to collect fees for work that she said has historically cost taxpayers a significant amount.
“It’s a system that’s constantly just ripe for corruption, just ripe for all sorts of inequities, and I am very glad that we are taking at least one step that is within our authority to try to enact some regulations around this,” she said.
She said the city could have recouped up to $1.4 million in 2024 if the city had fees in place for the use of city resources and equipment during off-duty work.
The MPD is conducting a study to calculate what the fees should be, which will be presented to the council in May. Council Member Michael Rainville said he would like to hear more from the MPD on how the department could be affected by the ordinance.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara supports the city being able to collect fees for “the wear and tear on city owned squad cars,” according to a statement sent by a MPD spokesperson.
The city’s off-duty policy for police officers was addressed in the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) investigation into MPD, which prompted a consent decree that the city negotiated earlier this month.
The DOJ’s 2023 report says that in Minneapolis, off-duty work pays significantly higher than overtime at MPD, up to $150 to $175 an hour.
“The officer keeps all the compensation. The City gets nothing,” according to the report.
The DOJ report says that MPD’s policy allows some patrol officers to “manage” the off-duty opportunities, which can give them leverage over their own supervisors. The DOJ report says this “undermines supervision at MPD,” incentivizing supervisors to not hold patrol officers accountable.
The consent decree will limit officers from managing off-duty work for anyone who holds a higher rank, among other changes. Wonsley said the city ordinance will complement requirements included in the consent decree.
Payne said the ordinance will allow for better oversight and tracking of the police department’s off-duty work.
“This is just a good governance step,” Payne said.
