MARLON A. WALKER, Staff Writer The News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina)
RALEIGH -- Nearly a year after Raleigh Police Department officials rolled out a policy governing off-duty work, some officers are still struggling with the rules. The policy changes came after an internal audit last year found numerous policy violations and inadequate oversight of officers' off-duty work. A number of officers were found to be working too many hours in a 24-hour period. A few were found to have been working for the city during the same hours they were being paid for off-duty work. In response, then-Police Chief Jane Perlov instituted heightened oversight and tougher off-duty work rules. The number of off-duty infractions since the internal audit has not been made available by the Raleigh Police Department. Jim Sughrue, a police spokesman, said the department has not been tracking the number of offenses but confirmed there have been officers reprimanded for working too many hours in a 24-hour period and various paperwork violations. The officers say the punishments for minor infractions -- working too many hours, getting paid in cash instead of via check -- have been harsh. "For some of the minor violations, there were some severe punishments," said Rick Armstrong, president of the Raleigh Police Protective Association. "Many of [the infractions] were negligence, not really done with any intent." In November, Officer Chris Hill was reprimanded for taking cash from an employer at a local nightclub. Club officials had been advised that officers working in the club were to be paid by check, Hill said. Still, when the night ended, he said he was handed cash. For accepting that cash payment, he was suspended for a month from working off-duty. He planned to take the suspension in stride. Some bills just would not be paid this month, he thought to himself. Then, the lights went out. "There are some of us who can't make it without [off-duty jobs]," said Hill, who graduated from N.C. Central University with a degree in criminal justice and has been an officer with the department for three years. He called his parents for a loan. "Although it was my parents, and they would do anything for me, it was ... embarrassing," he said. "Here you are, going out and risking your life for other people, and you can't pay your own bills." Confusion over policy Armstrong said the infractions, in part, have to do with confusion over certain aspects of the new policy -- such as what delineates a 24-hour work period. The police union met with interim Raleigh Police Chief Kent Sholar to talk about the issue, he said, and punishments for minor infractions have lessened recently. But the audit and policy changes have hurt more than the officers' income, Armstrong said. The audit, made public last October, showed that 110 officers had been in violation of the department's policy in some form. Six had broken the law. Two former officers, Charles A. Bryant and David K. Murphy, were issued criminal summonses on misdemeanor larceny charges. Both entered Alford pleas -- allowing a person to enter a guilty plea without admitting guilt -- received probation and were made to pay back money made from off-duty work while on the city payroll. The fallout among the rank and file was devastating. "It hurt morale quite a bit," Armstrong, a detective with the Raleigh Police Department, said of the criminal charges. "A lot of people were upset at that small number of officers who ... put a black eye on the department as a whole. Ninety-nine percent of the officers at the Raleigh Police Department have a lot of integrity and would not break any laws." In spite of the rough going, Hill said, he knows he has a future working in law enforcement -- and a future with better pay. But for now, he says, he is going to make his annual salary work. That means working off-duty jobs. "[My family is] still making it, but just making it. By the grace of God," he said. OFF-DUTY WORK STIPULATIONS Among the highlights of the Raleigh Police Department's off-duty policy: - Officers may not work more than 16 off-duty and on-duty hours during a 24-hour period. - Officer who call in sick to their police department job cannot perform off-duty work until 24 hours has passed since the end of the called-out shift. - Officers must submit forms twice monthly detailing on-duty and off-duty work to an immediate supervisor. - Officers living at an apartment complex at which they are paid to patrol as an off-duty assignment are not allowed to get rent breaks and must provide a letter from the property management saying no such discount exists. - Officers can no longer solicit business owners for off-duty employment. All off-duty requests must be routed to the desk sergeant and placed in a computer database. - Officers cannot work off-duty jobs as taxicab drivers, door-to-door salesmen or in jobs that require account collection or handling alcoholic beverages. POLICE PAY - The starting salary for a police officer in Raleigh is $32,166 annually. Officers receive an additional $700 yearly for having a bachelor's degree. - Greensboro officers start at $32,500 annually and can receive up to $5,000 their first year for having a four-year degree. - Charlotte officers' starting salaries range from $30,662 to $33,805, depending on their educational level.
Information From: LexisNexis Wire Services
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