Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

Can some Police officers chime in and give an average % of income that is made from extra duty assigments. Weddings, etc....

I don't know of any police department that pay someone for weddings? None around here anyways.

It is common practice to have an officer at wedding receptions here. While not an official, department OT assignment, they are in uniform and have full authority.


...and I am a fed 1811, so no OT for me. :)

Weddings? :confused:

Weddings? :confused:

That was my thought exactly, I was thinking; Who do you have to be in order to have a police officer have to work an extra duty assignment to protect you at your wedding?

Weddings? :confused:

I once worked a wedding reception as Security.

It was an easy, stand in one place, take the occasional soda off of the waiters trey as he went by, 4 hour, $40 gig. (I was making $8.50 per hour at the time....1990.)

It was on one of our resort islands, and I think it was more of a "We're so important we have a Cop for Security" issue than any actual need.

...If it wasn't that, then I am damn lucky nothing popped up, like an ex-wife or something...:o

That just seems odd, so then is that a contract thing through the department?

Around here, it is not a contract thing... just asking around for someone who knows someone. Some of the reception halls have the contacts, too.

It's usually used when you are serving alcohol at the reception and many halls require it.

Sometimes people steal money at receptions, or get drunk and cause trouble. So, I could definitely see why someone would hire an officer for security.

Hmm, never heard of it (obviously), guess you learn something new daily.

In my area, there is a cop tasked out to just about everything for security. Wedding receptions, Mardi Gras balls, ball games, funerals,

I can see the Mardi Gras balls, ball games, and maybe funerals (depending on the person). I just don't see the need for a PO to be at a wedding for security unless it was a BIG wedding, or a police officer was getting married, in which case you would more than likely have a "few" police officers there already.

In our case, off-duty Security type gigs were handled thru HR on a contract basis. State Law allows uni's and equipment to be used, we get a minimum of 4 hours - usually cash - pay, and a minimum hourly wage is established every year. The Off-duty employer agreed to pay any w/c and insurance claims.

Conflicts often arose when Deputies forgot that they were supposed to only enforce the Law and not the employers Policy, ie, no chewing gum in the skating rink. If the employer voiced the desire to remove a patron, no problem.

You could have other off-duty jobs, but they had to be permitted thru the agency with memo's and permission slips & hall passes... :rolleyes:

I worked a Golf Tournement once. I took Leave that I was going to lose if I didn't use it and spent 4, 12-14 hour days riding up and down a beach on a John Deere Gator keeping unauthorised/unticketed beachwalkers from sneaking up into the World Cup, during the month of November.

That job paid me enough to carpet and surround sound my tv room and force me to pay the Feds that year... :cool:

So would that officer then be in Uni or plain cloths? I know my explorer department works the local college football games, and the officers get 1 and 1/2 time for the hours they work there, the department pays the officers and the college athletics pay the village.

So would that officer then be in Uni or plain cloths? I know my explorer department works the local college football games, and the officers get 1 and 1/2 time for the hours they work there, the department pays the officers and the college athletics pay the village.

Off duty work is Uni's... unless command makes some decision otherwise.

What would be the real purpose of paying extra for plainclothes to be in a location where you are attempting to keep a certain amount of order by having a LE presence?:confused:

"Pssst... pass the word, there's plainclothes Cops around here..." :eek:

Off duty work is Uni's... unless command makes some decision otherwise.

What would be the real purpose of paying extra for plainclothes to be in a location where you are attempting to keep a certain amount of order by having a LE presence?:confused:

"Pssst... pass the word, there's plainclothes Cops around here..." :eek:

Haha, good point ^^^!

I can see the Mardi Gras balls, ball games, and maybe funerals (depending on the person). I just don't see the need for a PO to be at a wedding for security unless it was a BIG wedding, or a police officer was getting married, in which case you would more than likely have a "few" police officers there already.

I think the cops were there more to control traffic than regulate crowd control. The weddings here typically are held in historic mansions on busy city streets. Lots of cars entering and exiting.