Officers' union against extra fee for off-duty work

The Indianapolis Star reports:

The Fraternal Order of Police on Monday spoke against a proposal to regulate the off-duty employment of public safety officers in uniform.

The proposal, introduced at Monday night's City-County Council meeting, would change the common practice of businesses employing off-duty officers for security purposes.

Currently, businesses directly employ the officers or call a security company headed by an officer or former officer who lines up people to work the shift. Under the proposal, businesses would have to hire officers through a "Secondary Employment Unit" that would impose its own charge on top of an officer's hourly rate.

For officers in uniform, the charge would be $5. If they need a police vehicle on the job, it would be $10 per hour. Officers not in uniform or using city assets would be free to work off-duty jobs without oversight.

William Owensby, president of the city's police union, said he was "adamantly opposed to the proposal as written."

"If you tax employers who hire off-duty officers, it will diminish their use and hurt officers' opportunities for second jobs," Owensby said. "It will create more work for on-duty officers."