SEA ISLE CITY – Sea Isle City Council introduced an ordinance, July 25, outlining a revised extra duty policy for police officers. It is a common practice for off-duty officers to work on a contract basis principally for traffic control on construction projects.
Under a policy being repealed, the city accommodated requests for officers in such capacity and billed the contractor for reimbursement of overtime pay. The new ordinance, as introduced, establishes a set rate of $70 per hour for officer services, along with an additional $29.50 per hour paid to the city to cover municipal costs. Such duty by officers must be approved by the chief of police and cannot interfere with city operations.
Mayor Leonard Desiderio said the new policy “will ensure that the city, in addition to the officers, is fairly reimbursed for these services.”
Some other municipalities in the county have enacted similar policies. Middle Township has even contracted out the administrative tasks associated with scheduling officers for the growing number of requests by contractors and utilities.
The ordinance will come up for second reading and required public hearing at the Aug. 22 council meeting.
