Minneapolis City Council members are moving forward with a plan to charge fees to businesses hiring off-duty police officers that use squad cars and other city resources.
Minneapolis City Council Member Robin Wonsley says officers are personally profiting from after hours security jobs while driving squad cars and wearing their police uniforms. She says they're often making $100 or more an hour.
"And you, as taxpayers, are the ones who are paying for the gas as well as the wear and tear on those vehicles," Wonsley says. "As well as the other resources being used."
Wonsley says no other city employee is allowed to do this and that along with Council President Elliot Payne, she has requested a fee study that will give recommendations about how much to charge.
Members of the council are calling this a "fundamentally broken" off-duty system for police officers. As things stand right now officers can drive to and from off-duty security jobs using their squad cars, at no benefit to the city, while they pocket their earnings.
"There is a challenge in tracking the amount of hours that officers are working when they're off-duty by having a fee associated with this," Payne explained. "This will allow us to make sure that we're tracking those moments so that we're not overworking those officers. So that they're not in a position to make the kind of fatal mistakes that lead to the death of George Floyd."
Both Wonsley and Payne added that study should be completed by March of next year and putting a plan in place by 2026.