Article · Off Duty Blue
Off-Duty Detail Policy Checklist for Police Departments
Use this checklist to review eligibility, assignment rules, hour limits, client approvals, timesheets, billing, and insurance responsibilities.
The hardest part of setting up an off-duty detail program is often deciding how the program should work before the first request arrives. Software can apply a rule consistently, but it should not invent the rule for the department.
Here are the questions we would put on the table with an agency:
- What work is eligible? Define which clients, locations, activities, and job types the department will approve, and who makes the final call.
- Who can take a detail? Set eligibility by role, training, status, or other agency requirements. Decide whether certain jobs are limited to certain officers.
- How are positions assigned? Choose an understandable method, such as seniority, hours worked, a rotating list, or first eligible applicant. Document exceptions and who may authorize them.
- What are the workload limits? Set any daily, weekly, or monthly limits, rest requirements, and rules for overlapping shifts according to agency policy.
- What happens when a shift changes? Decide who can cancel or give up an assignment, how replacements are offered, and when officers and clients are notified.
- How is time approved? Specify who submits hours, who approves them, and how disputes or changes from scheduled time are handled.
- Who bills and pays? Decide which clients or details are department managed and which use payment administration. Spell out client terms, officer pay timing, and any authorized department or coordinator fees.
- What coverage applies? Review off-duty liability coverage with the agency's insurer and risk team. Determine whether an endorsement, reimbursement for added premium, or workers' compensation arrangement is needed.
- What records are required? Identify the roster, approvals, client documents, timesheets, invoices, and reports the agency needs to retain under its own rules.
This is an operating checklist, not a substitute for the agency's legal, labor, insurance, or payroll review. Once those decisions are made, Off Duty Blue can be configured to reflect the program instead of forcing the program to fit a generic workflow.