Do city LEOs have to live inside the city limits?

[redwing634]

Or can they live in the suburbs just outside the city? I'm considering Houston PD but would like to live in Sugar Land, unless its not possible.

[Legoate]

Depends on the department policy. You would have to call that department and ask.

[pac201]

not sure about Tx, but generally speaking the city cannot require anyone except the top brass to live in the city.

[retdetsgt]

not sure about Tx, but generally speaking the city cannot require anyone except the top brass to live in the city.

Yeah, they can. It's been before the Supreme Court and it's been found constitutional.

I know this because our city council passed an ordinance like that once. People already living outside were grandfathered until they moved. If you move, it had to be back to the city.

The number of applicants dropped so sharply that they rescinded it, but in the meantime our union researched it and found that it would do no good to challenge it in court. I think it was a city in Michigan, but it was a long time ago and I don't recall for sure.

But to the poster, you have to check each agency. There is no blanket answer.

[BP348]

I don't believe HPD requires their officers to live with in the city limits. I'll make a few calls and check.

Not sure about cities in general but I know that Chicago PD requires their officers to live with in the city limits. Chicago requires all city employees to live with in the city limits.

[SnapShawt]

As has been said, this will vary from one agency to another. Some require you to live in the city limits, some within a certain distance of the limit, and some only in the county (and SOME anywhere as long as you can get to work on time).

I work for a county agency. We want ours to at least live in an adjoining county if not in this county, and there have been a couple of exceptions to even that. However, we also have a take-home program whereby we are allowed to keep our patrol cars at home with us. THIS is limited ONLY to those of us who live in the county.

[TX-LEO]

We dont require it but I think we'd have more effort put forward in preventing crime and an overall better department if more of us lived in the area we worked for obvious reasons.

[retdetsgt]

We dont require it but I think we'd have more effort put forward in preventing crime and an overall better department if more of us lived in the area we worked for obvious reasons.

Yeah, if you want to be a cop 24-7.:rolleyes: Personally, I had a life other than being a cop. My neighbors knew I worked for the city of Portland, but that was all.

Working there was plenty for me, I had no desire to live there.

[Creeker]

We have a local big City here that, after allowing several Officers to buy homes outside of the city... per memo... a new Chief was appointed. That Chief issued a mandate that all Cops were required to move into the City.

A Captain stood up to him and told him that he couldn't do that after the Department had allowed guys to get mortgages, etc. and that Captain was ultimately fired.... and the Cops had no recourse but to comply.

BTW, a year later, that Captain was appointed as the County Sheriff, when the elected Sheriff dropped dead of a heart attack. He's been re-elected every term since.

[SnapShawt]

Oh well that's just called unreasonable. Just change that kind of policy and require those who have mortgages or already own their homes outright to refinance or sell and move. I'm surprised the captain you spoke of didn't fight that. But then, NOW he's the head honcho in the COUNTY .... at least here in Texas, the sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer in his county, and muni chiefs really hate hearing that ;)

[manahmanah]

Philadelphia requires all city workers, except for teachers, to live in the city limits. The Police and Fire unions have been trying to get this changed for years to no avail.........so yes, they can. I really don't see the good in it though. In my opinion, it drastically reduces the number of quality candidates you get to choose from.

[retdetsgt]

But then, NOW he's the head honcho in the COUNTY .... at least here in Texas, the sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer in his county, and muni chiefs really hate hearing that ;)

It sounds odd, but the DA is the chief LE official in Oregon counties. The sheriff has jurisdiction all over the county, but he can't push any municipal chiefs around. When the S.O. here was at it's biggest (not counting jailers), it had about 190 sworn when we had about 700. It's been a shaky relationship over the years and I know of several out and out confrontations between various sheriff's and our chiefs. The sheriff has lost everyone of them I know of.

The last one I was aware of was when the sheriff decided he would set up a unit that would investigate ALL child abuse cases in the county, including the ones inside the city. I was too far down the food chain to know exactly what happened, but my understanding was the DA stepped in and told them who would be doing what. We kept our own cases. A couple of years later, a compromise was reached and a city / county child abuse team was set up, but it's under the command of the chief, not the sheriff.

It's gone back a long way. I was doing some research when I was working on my graduate degree and found a case where a Portland policeman shot a county deputy in the leg in a fight over a woman around 1900. The policeman got suspended w/o pay for three days!:D

Back to the topic, at least here, the ordinance said those of us living outside the city only had to move in IF we moved at all. That's also why I would never work in an "at will" state. A chief tried that crap, he'd be up to his *** in lawsuits and all sorts of labor problems. We can't strike, but we can make his life miserable if he gets too heavy handed and arbitrary. We really rarely have problems with the chief, it's almost always the goofy city council. And more than a few times, I've literally gotten on my knees and thanked God for our union. Liberals are hell to work for.....:mad:

When I was working, I bet less than 50% of the sworn personnel lived within the city limits, I doubt that's changed much. A lot of people like living out in the country and raising their kids there.

I remember they had an incentive program for police to buy homes in certain parts of the city. Out of about 1000 cops at the time, two took them up on it. Both were lesbians with no kids.

[retdetsgt]

In my opinion, it drastically reduces the number of quality candidates you get to choose from.

That's exactly why the city council rescinded the ordinance. Applications to work anywhere in the city dropped like a rock.

[PapaBear]

Most agencies in California have a thirty or sixty minute rule. You must, if called, be able to commute to the department within thirty or sixty minutes under NORMAL traffic conditions.

In Southern CA we have officers who may live up to 75 miles from their agency or workplace and can make it within the allotted time frames.

[retdetsgt]

Most agencies in California have a thirty or sixty minute rule. You must, if called, be able to commute to the department within thirty or sixty minutes under NORMAL traffic conditions.

We've never had enough massive call ups to justify even that rule. In fact, I can't remember any where the entire dept was called in. They've always just gone down the list until they got enough people to serve the purpose.

Cops here can ride mass transit for free by showing their badge or ID. The reason being, if there is a problem, the driver/ train operator will notify you to take care of it. There were times I just paid my fare. If there was something big enough that someone was in danger, that's one thing. But if I saw enough people on the bus that looked like they needed ejecting, I just put my dollar in the farebox, sat down and read my newspaper.

I am NOT one of those people with a badge tattooed on my chest. Most everything I reacted to off duty, I would have reacted to whether or not I was a cop. It was just a matter of stepping up and doing the right thing. Being my dumbass neighbors' personal policeman didn't and never will happen.