Rent-a-Cop

[tiawah466]

Looks like you may really be able to have a Rent-a-Cop soon.
http://www.ktul.com/news/stories/0806/355745.html
Seems like a good idea to me. I know a lot of cops work off duty as security at many places, why not in a neighborhood.

 

[car2back]

Sounds like racketeering to me. Aren't the police (Co Sheriff) already paid to Protect and Serve?

 

[Grog]

Sounds like racketeering to me. Aren't the police (Co Sheriff) already paid to Protect and Serve?

So there should be no Security jobs? Just remember, the police are not required to protect anyone, just the public in general (per The Surpreme Court).

Plus some people like getting mid five figures for easy work

 

[car2back]

Just remember, the police are not required to protect anyone, just the public in general (per The Surpreme Court).

My understanding is the State of Oklahoma says Police Officer's primary function is to enforce criminal law

Just playing the devil's advocate Grog

 

[mfolta1]

why not have rent a fireman? like sapulpa does ,,hehe...

 

[CommShrek]

That guy's idea will never fly. At least, not in the area he's talking about. The people up on the north side of Tulsa aren't going to pay for anything. If they had any money in the first place, most of them would spend it on other things besides security, if you know what I mean. Don't get all bent out of shape about this paragraph though, I speak from experience and this is my own personal observation from working some security gigs up "norf". I realize there are some good folks residing north of Admiral but I also know that most of the "good" ones work very hard to relocate elsewhere. It's a war zone up there and everyone knows it.

Phil does bring up a valid point though. Basically, that county deputy is saying that the police can't do their jobs and that they need private security to step in and help. I see the racketeering part though when he talks about "off duty officers". If those officers are not working security in the jurisdiction where they are employed then they have to have an security license just like every other private security person out there.

Also, in the scope of working private security are these "off-duty officers" going to be stopping people and trying to FI them and such? I see the lines between private security and law enforcement getting blurred.

 

[K5MAR]

Interesting discussion. Most of you are likely too young to remember the time in Oklahoma where there was no provision for armed private security. When I was a field supervisor for Pinkerton's back in the early Seventies, I was a Tulsa County Deputy Sheriff so that I could carry a gun. There was one outfit, Tulsa County Private Security I believe the name was, who's employees were virtual clones of TPD/TCSO. Their uniforms were identical to Tulsa's and they were all TCSO deputies and/or TPD officers if they carried a gun. Of course I'm talking about the late Sixties and early Seventies here, so I lack the details after 30+ years. But the joke at the time was that TCSO had over a thousand deputies on the books, while the payroll was for a couple of dozen.

In many locales, the "security guard" was always an off-duty police officer or deputy. The assignment of these jobs was a plum handed out by the Chief or Sheriff to his favored people. An officer who was in good with the Chief could make a tidy bit of change on the side. I know of one officer who was financially-strapped by medical bills after his wife died of cancer, who was called into the chief's office and handed the assignment to provide "security" at the Sonic Drive-In. (This was in Bartlesville.) "M" worked that job every Friday and Saturday night for 4 years, allowing him to take care of the mound of debt. When he paid his last past-due bill and emerged free and clear, the chief passed the job on to another officer who needed the money.

As for the officer's behavior when doing these jobs, he (or less likely, she) generally performed the duties wearing his regular uniform. This was before the current scrutiny of law enforcement, and if a officer told you to do something, you did it. Those were simpler days to be a cop; in some ways I regret their passing, and in other ways I'm glad they're gone.

Mark S.

 

[car2back]

Great post Mark! very informative.

 

[okccsi]

And what kind of vehicles will the Off duty officers be using? They want each citizen to pay the sum, plus foot the bill ofr gas as well at tax time. I guess that would be cheaper though than paying all those off udtyofficers overtime.

And that off duty officer didn't come up with crap. His idea...his plan as they call it is called a CO-OP. I have been setting those up for years, and I was shown how to by someone else who had been doing it for years.

OKC CSI

 

[Grog]

My understanding is the State of Oklahoma says Police Officer's primary function is to enforce criminal law

Just playing the devil's advocate Grog

But they are not required to protect anyone in particular, just the public in general.

Translation....You have to do whatever you can to watch out for yourself.

Some people are more than happy enough to take care of their own family, but others feel the need to pay someone else to do it.

 

[woodyrr]

The city of Dallas has a similar program. Neighborhood associations can hire an off duty Dallas Police Officer, a marked car and a radio (That’s the way the contract reads) for, I believe $100.00 for a four hour shift.

The neighborhood in which my brother lives participates in the program. The same officer is assigned each time and he drives around the streets and alleys, passing the house every four minutes or so. He has been doing it for so long that he recognizes the residents by sight and many by name. I met him when the wind blew some tree branches, downing some power lines in the alley. Although I am only an occasional visitor, he always recognizes and acknowledges me and we’ve taken the opportunity to briefly chat a time or two since.

This neighborhood has transitioned from a dump during Love Field’s hey day in the mid to late sixties to a very desirable area in which to live despite the less frequent and less noisy aircraft overflights. It’s hard to quantify the effect that the patrols have on crime in the area because in addition to the patrols, the residents have taken various other steps to secure their neighborhood. One thing is a very proactive neighborhood watch. The second or third time that I was there, the “block captain” walked by the house and saw me adjusting the driveway gate. Later, I found out that he had gone home and called the neighbor across the street and had they not known me, I’d have been visiting with the Dallas police under less pleasant circumstances. I do know that as a result of all of the steps taken by the residents, crime is down significantly in the area.

As to the patrols, I do know from listening to the scanner that the Dallas Police in "Channel 1" are too busy answering calls for service, the vast majority of a priority nature, to just drive through neighborhoods looking for trouble. In Midwest City, it is not uncommon to see a patrol car just idling by, but if I see a patrol car driving down the street in Dallas, it’s likely on a call somewhere.

From my observations so far, I haven’t seen a downside to the program and I really like seeing that white car with “Dallas Police” emblazoned on the side every time I glance up.

 

[okla-lawman]

It wont fly. Officers cant patrol off duty in their patrol cars. So that means they would have to provide cars, gas, insurance so forth. I sure as hell would not drive my pov. By the time you figure gas, insurance, veh cost and salaries I think it is unfeasable. Based on current part time I dont think he could get off duty officers to work for less than $30 to $40
an hour. Going rate in right now is $20 to $25, but working in HOT areas, where I risk getting hurt, Internal Affairs complaints,,,etc I dont think I would do it at all much less at less than $30 an hour. So how many houses would you have to sign up?? At the rate of $1 an hour that would be a lot of money per household. $1 an hour time 8 hours a day would be $8. Now do that times 30 days that is $240 a month. How many average people can afford that?? Yes I have seen this work in other areas. Usually large expensive housing additions. If the officer gets paid $30, the car gets $5and hour that means that they must have 35 houses close to together to just make expenses not including little things like profit, operating expenses and so forth. North Tulsa or any otherlower socioeconomic area that is justnot going to work.