[jerg_064]

I've always been a bit annoyed by LEOs asking to see my tickets and ID (if seeing R rated) at the theater, so I decided to confront one the other night. After some discussion about the fourth amendment it finally came out that he was in fact off-duty and working as a private security guard for the theater.

That's fine and all but, I find it to be a bit unethical at the least to pose as a public servant while actually working in a private capacity. And it torques me more that while I have Article 108 of the UCMJ (Fraud, waste and abuse) that LEOs are allowed to use their official uniforms/gear and patrol vehicle for a self serving purpose (extra money on the side). If I did the same thing I could be facing non-judicial punishment, loss in rank/pay, and even jail time.

Just a rant.

 

[NTA]

Some states do not allow LEO's to do this - as a result of some bars and nightclubs using them as bouncers with extra clout.

In these states, you can still buy some law for somewhat more legitimate reasons like traffic control.

 

[patrick4588]

wonder if they would ask you to leave if you didnt show them id?!!

 

[jerg_064]

wonder if they would ask you to leave if you didnt show them id?!!

They are working FOR the theater and as such have the full right to ask me to leave. I practically ended the conversation after he finally clarified that he was off-duty and working for the theater. All I asked after that was if he was allowed to wear his official uniform for a private purpose. And at some point, he did ask me if I would like to speak with the manager. He wasn't really rude about any of it, just a little annoyed by my questioning.

Of course if he would've let me know that (being off-duty) from the start, since it was obvious that I was challenging his legal authority; there wouldn't have been a confrontation at all.

 

[Match10]

Yup, and many of them will park their blues in the middle of the street and stop all traffic to let the members of a church exit at the convenience of the church... Even though they are not an "authorized emergency vehicle" at that point and acting in a private capacity.

 

[Hack Causality]

Yup, and many of them will park their blues in the middle of the street and stop all traffic to let the members of a church exit at the convenience of the church... Even though they are not an "authorized emergency vehicle" at that point and acting in a private capacity.

Seriously? Never seen that myself, but I'll put some choice music on my sound system for the occasion.

 

[livesounder]

Yup, and many of them will park their blues in the middle of the street and stop all traffic to let the members of a church exit at the convenience of the church... Even though they are not an "authorized emergency vehicle" at that point and acting in a private capacity.

And then there's the one(s) stopping traffic on Roswell just North of 285 so lunch-time traffic can get in/out of a fast-food joint or the one(s) stopping traffic on Spring just South of North during afternoon rush so local office workers can get out.

That kind of crap just pisses me off.

 

[Puffyfish]

Yup, and many of them will park their blues in the middle of the street and stop all traffic to let the members of a church exit at the convenience of the church... Even though they are not an "authorized emergency vehicle" at that point and acting in a private capacity.

Seriously? Never seen that myself, but I'll put some choice music on my sound system for the occasion.

Happens all over Atlanta every Sunday.

 

[BirdMan]

Yup, and many of them will park their blues in the middle of the street and stop all traffic to let the members of a church exit at the convenience of the church... Even though they are not an "authorized emergency vehicle" at that point and acting in a private capacity.

Do you have a problem with them doing that for baseball games or other events? The way I see it, if the event, church, or whatever has a large group of people leaving to get on the road at the same time, it's of benefit for everyone if they just temporarily stop traffic for a minute, get them going, and then let everyone get on with their day, rather than have people clogging up the road for an hour, trying to get into the traffic stream.

 

[mrtopher1980]

Since when did movie ratings become a "law" and not just a suggestion by the movie industry that they do to prevent actual laws and government involvement?

I know the officer was off duty so in a sense just working and enforcing this suggestion as a private employee of the theatre and then indirectly the movie industry but I have never once been asked to show ID when attending a movie other then for a student discount.

 

[mrtopher1980]

Yup, and many of them will park their blues in the middle of the street and stop all traffic to let the members of a church exit at the convenience of the church... Even though they are not an "authorized emergency vehicle" at that point and acting in a private capacity.

And then there's the one(s) stopping traffic on Roswell just North of 285 so lunch-time traffic can get in/out of a fast-food joint or the one(s) stopping traffic on Spring just South of North during afternoon rush so local office workers can get out.

That kind of crap just pisses me off.

That sounds like actual official on the clock traffic control vs the church traffic control is usually off duty LEO being paid privately by the church.

Both are annoying but two entirely separate things in regards to the topic and representing yourself as being the job when you are not.

In the town I grew up in NJ the average income about 10 years ago of a 5 year veteran on the police force was over 100K a year. Their actual salary was half that but the overtime rate was over 100 an hour paid on the books for school functions, church functions, sitting behind a cable truck while they worked on the pole and traffic control at private functions. Since it was all on the books it was public record and came up all the time when they would complain about how little their actual salary was ignoring their actual income.

 

[JMan]

I've always been a bit annoyed by LEOs asking to see my tickets and ID (if seeing R rated) at the theater, so I decided to confront one the other night. After some discussion about the fourth amendment it finally came out that he was in fact off-duty and working as a private security guard for the theater.

That's fine and all but, I find it to be a bit unethical at the least to pose as a public servant while actually working in a private capacity. And it torques me more that while I have Article 108 of the UCMJ (Fraud, waste and abuse) that LEOs are allowed to use their official uniforms/gear and patrol vehicle for a self serving purpose (extra money on the side). If I did the same thing I could be facing non-judicial punishment, loss in rank/pay, and even jail time.

Just a rant.

this is a good point what can we do about it?

 

[Fallschirmjäger]

I've always been a bit annoyed by LEOs asking to see my tickets and ID (if seeing R rated) at the theater, so I decided to confront one the other night. After some discussion about the fourth amendment it finally came out that he was in fact off-duty and working as a private security guard for the theater.

That's fine and all but, I find it to be a bit unethical at the least to pose as a public servant while actually working in a private capacity. And it torques me more that while I have Article 108 of the UCMJ (Fraud, waste and abuse) that LEOs are allowed to use their official uniforms/gear and patrol vehicle for a self serving purpose (extra money on the side). If I did the same thing I could be facing non-judicial punishment, loss in rank/pay, and even jail time.

Just a rant.

this is a good point what can we do about it?

It may be a 'suggestion' rather than the law, but. ... if it's the movie theater's policy to follow that suggestion and not allow underage people to see certain movies then there's not much you can do except boycott that theater or not see the movie. Since it's private property they could just as easily have a policy that no person wearing a red shirt is allowed to see When Harry Met Sally..... right?

 

[Hack Causality]

If they're off duty, can they still bust you for, say, playing death metal loudly while they make you wait for the church to empty?

 

[SongDogSniper]

I've always been a bit annoyed by LEOs asking to see my tickets and ID (if seeing R rated) at the theater, so I decided to confront one the other night. After some discussion about the fourth amendment it finally came out that he was in fact off-duty and working as a private security guard for the theater.

That's fine and all but, I find it to be a bit unethical at the least to pose as a public servant while actually working in a private capacity. And it torques me more that while I have Article 108 of the UCMJ (Fraud, waste and abuse) that LEOs are allowed to use their official uniforms/gear and patrol vehicle for a self serving purpose (extra money on the side). If I did the same thing I could be facing non-judicial punishment, loss in rank/pay, and even jail time.

Just a rant.

this is a good point what can we do about it?

Discuss it with the respective agency head if you don't like it. Let him explain to you their policy on the use of Department-issued gear while working extra jobs.

Depending on the agency, you may be surprised to find out it is not as black and white as you believe it to be.

 

[SongDogSniper]

If they're off duty, can they still bust you for, say, playing death metal loudly while they make you wait for the church to empty?

They may be off their agency's clock, but they are still sworn peace officers 24x7x365. Typically an on-duty officer will be happy to assist and handle the paperwork associated with the citation or arrest for their off-duty colleague.

 

[livesounder]

Yup, and many of them will park their blues in the middle of the street and stop all traffic to let the members of a church exit at the convenience of the church... Even though they are not an "authorized emergency vehicle" at that point and acting in a private capacity.

And then there's the one(s) stopping traffic on Roswell just North of 285 so lunch-time traffic can get in/out of a fast-food joint or the one(s) stopping traffic on Spring just South of North during afternoon rush so local office workers can get out.

That kind of crap just pisses me off.

That sounds like actual official on the clock traffic control vs the church traffic control is usually off duty LEO being paid privately by the church.

And what leads you to believe that?

 

[BirdMan]

I think the whole issue could just be solved by having the officer wear a little sticker that said "OFF DUTY". I don't particularly care if off duty LEOs make money on the side while wearing uniforms, as long as their behavior is legal. I've got to say, having an off-duty Oconee County sheriff's deputy doing security at my local Kroger makes me feel better at night. My wife used to work at a Chick-fil-a when she was in college, and they had a OD LEO during high traffic times and during closing time. That also made me feel like she was safer.

Better to have an armed, trained LEO providing security or crowd control, than an unarmed Paul Blart.

ETA:
Besides, it is pretty obvious when there's a cop checking tickets at a theater, or when he's always at a Kroger after 9 pm, that he's on a side job and not on duty. Non issue, IMO.

 

[jdh31313]

The company I work for uses off duty LEO's to augment in-house security from time to time. It works well for us, saves us money and puts a few extra dollars in their pockets.

 

[mrtopher1980]

Yup, and many of them will park their blues in the middle of the street and stop all traffic to let the members of a church exit at the convenience of the church... Even though they are not an "authorized emergency vehicle" at that point and acting in a private capacity.

And then there's the one(s) stopping traffic on Roswell just North of 285 so lunch-time traffic can get in/out of a fast-food joint or the one(s) stopping traffic on Spring just South of North during afternoon rush so local office workers can get out.

That kind of crap just pisses me off.

That sounds like actual official on the clock traffic control vs the church traffic control is usually off duty LEO being paid privately by the church.

And what leads you to believe that?

Normal on duty police officers never control traffic on the clock as part of their job?

If they are not on duty who paid for them to be there in your opinion? You think Mcdonalds or whatever fast food joint this is has hired them to direct traffic on a daily basis?