When public safety personnel entered into the profession of law enforcement there was no guarantee of great sums of money to be made. It was a good career with good benefits and if you played your cards right would be a milion dollar career when it is all over. It appears from time to time public servants forget the privledges they receive because they wear the uniform.
When officers make their pursuit of secondary employment income their primary job their is huge potential for conflict of interest. Officers are wearing the uniform the agency they work for allows them to; they receive higher than average part-time wages because they are “Professionals” and some work so much they become a safety risk to themselves, their fellow officers and the citizens they swore to protect.
It goes without saying each of us want to provide a little nicer life for our loved ones. We want to have the nicer things in life. We want to be able to send our kids to private schools or to private lessons in the activity of their choice. It is human nature; only one more buck, one more month, one more day, one more hour is all I need and I will [FILL IN THE BLANK]. When it comes to work though, where should the line be drawn on, what is right and fare?
Unfortunately officers quickly forget they are only getting the secondary employment pay they do because of the uniform they wear. If anyone of them were to walk up in plain clothes, and say to the same employer, “Hey I will work for $30.00 an hour protecting your store from shoplifters.” do you think the store owner would pay? If they would there wouldn’t be any real police on the streets, they would all quit to become crime prevention specialist for the local Circle K. It is because of the skills, training and standards certified police officers are held to that allows them to command such premium pay for part-time work. Is it not all provided by the agency? If left to their own would the individual officer maintain their training? Realistically, probably not. So thanks to the training they receive to do their primary work they have skills enabling them to do secondary employment. So the agency really does have the right to say who, what, when, where and for how long their personnel are allowed to engage in secondary employment activities.
If it were not for the primary job they would never get the secondary job to begin with. So do you feel police officers have the right to pursue secondary employment while on their agency’s time? Isn’t it like perpetually looking for another job on company [agency] time; being paid to do one job as you pursue work with another employer?
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