Minneapolis City Council members have begun making moves toward recouping some of the costs of allowing police officers to use squad cars and other city resources to work for private businesses when they’re off duty.
A council committee voted Monday to study the public cost of the Police Department’s off-duty program, where private businesses hire officers to provide security. It’s the first step toward charging the businesses for the cost to the city in things like wear and tear to squad cars. If the full City Council signs off on the proposal, the report would be due by May 1, when the full council could consider adding the new fees next year.
The Minneapolis Police Department allows officers to work security for private entities such as bars, clubs, sports teams and construction companies. The side gigs can pay up to hundreds of dollars per hour, and officers are often paid in cash, according to a 2019 city audit. The officers use MPD vehicles, uniforms, weapons and city liability insurance while doing the security work.
The Administration and Enterprise Oversight Committee voted to study the cost of vehicle use, uniforms, liability insurance and administrative costs.
Such side jobs came under scrutiny in 2017, when former MPD officer Mohamed Noor worked a seven-hour shift moonlighting as a security guard before beginning a 10-hour MPD shift on the night he shot and killed Justine Ruszczyk Damond.
In January 2020, Mayor Jacob Frey launched an off-duty task force that met twice, and then dissolved amid the pandemic and resulting drop in off-duty work.
The issue came into public focus again in 2020, when a Latino nightclub owner said former MPD officer Derek Chauvin — who was convicted of murdering George Floyd – did off-duty work at the club where Floyd had worked as a bouncer. Later that year, the Minneapolis City Council stopped requiring off-duty officers at city-licensed events.
The U.S. Department of Justice said MPD’s off-duty work system was poorly managed and undermined supervision in its 2023 report on the department’s policing practices.