In Effort To Suppress Crime, V.I.P.D. Suspends All Off-Duty Employment

ST. CROIX — V.I.P.D. officers territory-wide recently received a letter from Territorial Chief of Police Winsbut McFarland, informing them that all off-duty jobs have been suspended until further notice, and that anyone who violated the edict would face disciplinary action.

“A staffing analysis conducted by the Office of the Chief of Police indicates that some zones require additional personnel. When changing shift, days off, vacation and sick leave are factored in, the available number of uniformed officers in a zone is reduced substantially. To immediately increase the number of sworn personnel required to augment the patrol divisions, effective immediately, all outside employment is hereby suspended until further notice. Failure to comply with this directive will result in disciplinary action,” reads the letter, which was signed by Police Commissioner Delroy Richards.

The action has disrupted the livelihoods of some officers, who depend on the extra earnings from the off-duty employment. But Mr. Richards, in an interview with The Consortium Friday morning, said the action was needed for a number of reasons: 1) In an effort to combat crime, Chief McFarland wants to implement a new strategy that requires more manpower, 2) Officers have been seeking outside employment without going through the proper steps, which includes filling out an application and the subsequent approval from the chief of police and commissioner, and 3) Because the V.I.P.D. is still under a consent decree, therefore even if a police officer is on an off-duty assignment, if said officer engages anyone with force, this officer’s actions are to be examined by the federal consent decree monitors.

Because of the aforementioned reasons, Mr. Richards said, the V.I.P.D. has reevaluated its stance relative to off-duty work. But the commissioner stressed that the main reason was because of a temporary initiative that Chief McFarland wants to implement in an effort to suppress the rise in criminal activity in the islands. “Obviously, it is not permanent,” Mr. Richards told The Consortium.

The commissioner, however, did not say how long the suspension would last, which puts officers with off-duty employment in a fragile position, as it creates uncertainty for their part-time employers. Yet, not wanting to tie the chief’s hands, Mr. Richards would only say that the suspension is not permanent.

“What I did was provide the chief some latitude in making assignments,” Mr. Richards said. “There’s an immediate need for the additional resources and we don’t want folks to say, ‘Well, I can’t work because I have a job some place else.’ That’s not the way it is.”

Mr. Richards said the policy within the force for officers seeking off-duty employment has been on the books for years preceding his tenure. “I didn’t create it, all I did was reinforced it,” he said.

Even so, the commissioner said the chief would be willing to work out arrangements with the officers, that would see them keeping their outside employment — even if it meant seeking a change of schedule from the outside employer — to prevent conflicts with the upcoming initiative.

“If in fact someone comes to the chief and it doesn’t conflict with the schedule that he has in place, he has the latitude of making that distinction and using his discretion. I just wanted to make sure that he had the latitude to make that decision,” Mr. Richards said. “We don’t want to be selfish because we know that times are hard; everyone’s trying to make some extra money to get along. That’s not a problem.”

Police officers, Mr. Richards reminded, are on call 24-hours, as per their contract with the police department. He said the primary job of the force and its officers is to protect residents of the territory by ensuring safety. The notion that the V.I.P.D. would fail to fulfill its obligation because officers are working outside jobs, is unacceptable, the commissioner said.

Even the talk of lack of overtime is being exaggerated, Mr. Richards noted. He said the V.I.P.D. has paid $10 million in overtime for this fiscal year alone. The commissioner also highlighted the importance of protecting the community, which has seen a rash of homicides in recent weeks, the latest being on St. Thomas in the wee hours of Thursday morning. “What’s the alternative?” the commissioner asked. “We don’t have any police officers because all of them are working off-duty?”

Near the end of the interview, the commissioner again stressed that the directive is temporary, and that officers with off-duty jobs should have a conversation with their higher-ups to work out a schedule. He also gave an example of a strategy he employed while in the private sector: The commissioner, who once ran a security firm, said he would employ part-time employees who had full-time jobs with other firms. These employees would bring their schedules to him, which Mr. Richards said changed often. In turn, he would then set his schedule around the full-time employer’s; not the other around. The same could be arranged with the V.I.P.D., he said, once the part-time jobs don’t affect officers’ main work of protecting the community.

“Of course we’re willing to work with the officers,” the commissioner assured.