The Minneapolis City Council taking action on a policy involving off-duty work for police officers.
The ordinance will allow the city to charge companies that hire officers for the use of city-issued weapons, uniforms and vehicles outside of their regular work.
The ordinance was previously passed by the Minneapolis Public Health and Safety Committee on Jan. 22.
Next the council will decide how to implement the new system. According to a city audit from 2019, 71% of officers worked one or more off-duty shifts.
Council Member and author of the ordinance Robin Wonsley says a $19 per hour fee will be put in place for the use of city-owned squad cars. She says the move is less about punishing officers and more about recouping city resources for residents
"They hear staffing challenges, but then they'll see an officer in front of a construction yard and those things don't make sense to them," says Wonsley. "So this is an opportunity to say no, we're working to make sure there are officers when they're on duty, for the time that you're paying for them, they are here serving your interests, serving your needs."
Other council members say based on data from the Minneapolis Police Department, the fees could have generated up to $1.4 million in 2024.
"So much about the off-duty program itself has been - it's had no transparency," Wonsley said Thursday. "There's been no tracking, there's been no metrics of accountability, so that's why it's so crucial to have that information come back in May and to do so in a public committee."
MPD officials are set to release more data about off-duty work in May that will guide the official ordinance that could take effect as soon as next year.