Police Officers when off duty???

Question

When you are off duty (your day off) do you have to intervine...For example if you are at the store and a fight breaks out or something do you have be break it up and act as if you are on duty..Can you get in trouble if you don't???

What if you are with your child or wife or both???

Answer 1

It depends on the situation. An off duty officer should never place his family in jeopardy. An off duty officer does not have the proper resources to intervene in many instances when off duty. At the academy we were taught that sometimes the most practical thing an off duty officer can do is be a good witness.

Answer 2

Although police officers in California retain their enforcement authority 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the requirement to intervene in witnessed criminal activity is generally regulated by agency policy. I am unaware of any agency that REQUIRES an off duty officer to act. Most agencies would prefer that the officer be a good witness rather than try to "save the day," as intervening off duty, will likely equipped with a firearm and nothing else, places the officer at risk of injury by both the suspect and, possibly, by responding officers who may not recognize the plain cothed, off duty officer and may simply see him as a man with a gun involved in the situation. Many officers have been injured or killed over the years by other officers under these circumstances.

Answer 3

While it can depend on departments and the rules, yes if you see a serious crime in process, or someone is going to get hurt, or someone is hurt you have a obligation and requirement to act. Most departments require officers to carry a weapon 24 hours a day.

And yep my wife has droped me off in a McDonalds parking lot several times to do a drug bust ( larger one, not small dealer) my wife let me out of the car when she noted a house in our block with the door standing open.

And I did a great clothes line on a man that had robbed a grocrey store as he ran out of the store.

As a matter of fact I had more and better arrests off duty than I ever did on duty.

So your day off is ruined with reports and the such, So when a police officer gets married, she is marring into the department, being a police officer is not a job it is really a life style.

Answer 4

I agree with what Law138 said. The law in Alabama (and I'm sure it's similar in other states) is that an officer is sworn to uphold the law 24/7 essentially. There are different factors that should go through an officers mind when he/she is deciding to make the decision to intervene, i.e. whether or not the suspect is armed and whether or not that officers intervention could most likely result in the injury or death of an innocent bystander or the officers family. I would not intervene in a physical way if I felt my family would be at risk. I have an obligation to protect them as well and feel as though my thought process might be inhibited if I had to keep diverting my attention to them throughout the ordeal. That sounds selfish and I must admit it is but it also goes towards my ability to protect others as well. Now if the suspect is firing his weapon and I'm armed I will make every attempt to stop that threat by utilizing deadly force. So there is no difinitive answer to your question other than we have arrest powers. Keep in mind you have so many other things to think about in the span of seconds that could affect the rest of your life, the bystanders lives, and the offenders life. Plus you're not readily identifiable as an officer (uniform etc) so there could be confufsion added to the mix. You do something and you're wrong you are run through the media wringer and monday morning quarterbacks who go through everything in detail with the ability to rerun video tapes and take hours to come to a conclusion you had seconds to make....all those decisions in seconds....Wanna be a cop? Most times it's best to be a good witness and testify in court when the suspect/offender is arrested.

Answer 5

The answer is yes, but how to intervene is the question. Intervening by physically getting in the middle of an incident isn't always smart. Rarely do I carry a gun off duty, and even if I did, I don't have a vest on. The best thing we can usually do is call 911 and be a good witness. If someones life is in immediate danger, that's different......I remember in the academy we had a section of study dedicated to "off duty" incidents......we were shown some ugly stats about off duty officers getting killed because they intervened.

In response to your additional comment / question......I would really hesitate if I was with my family. My wife knows that if I turn to her and say, "Take the boys and go !", it means I see something happening. She knows to take the kids away and call 911. I will say again....be a good witness. Too many times, we respond to an extreme situation and the victim can't give a very accurate description of the offender. We are trained to keep our wits about us and a good description (and account of what happened) and direction of travel is soooooo important to the immediate or eventual capture of the offender(s).

Answer 6

Yes. But depending on the speed it may not stand up in court. In fact, I'd say the chances of getting out of it is pretty good. However, if you are rolling along 50mph OVER the speed limit, well then that is a different story. The wise thing to do would be call the state authorities and give the location so that they can detect the violation while on duty.

Answer 7

As much as I hated doing it, Yes. Sometimes you just have to. I was Christmas shopping with my wife after having put in a really stressful time investigating a child homicide (2 year old strangled by a babysitter) in a huge department store. It was about 8:30 PM and dead of winter when this guy in front of me had a little one (maybe 6-7 years old) by the hand and was dragging her along through the store. The kid was cranky and was obviously tired. This guy hauls off and backhanded her across the face, really hard. I'm not proud of it but it took 3 security guards to get me off him. He went to jail that night and my wife didn't talk to me for 2 days.

Answer 8

good question. If they see some law being broken, they must correct it. Technically they are on duty 24/7. They may be off duty, but that just means that they don't have to do patrol or be called upon when help is needed. But when they see something with their very own eyes, they must help.

Answer 9

I suppose it's similar to being a doctor, only more critical. A doctor and a cop are both trained and can take action at a moment's notice, no matter when and where.

I cannot use the term enough: police culture. The all-embodying, all-pervasive lifestyle of law enforcement, including their language, habits, social network, ethics, and family.

Answer 10

the rule with most police departments is to be a good witness and only get involved if you can do so safely. because the officer is not on duty they are not using a bullet proof vest and might not have a weapon so it might not be safe for them to get in the middle of something.