The Minneapolis City Council approved an ordinance Thursday allowing the city to charge fees to private businesses when police officers do off-duty security work for them.
It’s the first step toward recouping some of the costs to taxpayers for allowing the officers to use squad cars, uniforms and weapons and other city supplies. The officers are also covered by the city’s liability insurance while doing off-duty work.
Last year, the council voted to study what fees could be imposed. That report is due in May, after which the council could add new fees and begin charging them in 2026.
The Police Department allows officers to provide security for private businesses, such as bars, clubs, sports teams and construction companies. These side gigs can pay up to hundreds of dollars per hour, often in cash, according to a 2019 city audit.
Council Member Robin Wonsley, a chief proponent of reining in what she called an “inequitable and fiscally appalling” off-duty program, said one estimate showed such fees could have recouped up to $1.4 million in 2024.
Off-duty work came under scrutiny in 2017 when then-officer Mohamed Noor worked seven hours moonlighting as a security guard before beginning a 10-hour police shift on the night he shot and killed Justine Ruszczyk Damond, who had called police to report a possible assault in her alley.
The issue came into public focus again in 2020, when a Latino nightclub owner said former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted of murdering George Floyd, worked security at the club where Floyd had worked as a bouncer. Later that year, the City Council stopped requiring off-duty officers at city-licensed events.
Council Member Katie Cashman asked what rates officers charge. She said she had heard from businesses that the fees have gone up “astronomically” in the past year, to the point of being cost-prohibitive, and they’re not sure why.
