This research examines the phenomenon of police moonlighting. Potential effects of moonlighting on police officer performance are addressed.
Defining Moonlighting Among Police Officers
Moonlighting, in the most common usage of the term, refers to a situation in which an individual holds two or more jobs where one of those jobs is considered to be a person's primary employment (Leonard & More, 1992, p. 592). When moonlighting is used in this context and is applied to police officers, the general perception is one in which a police officer holds down a second job in the local 7-11 or as a nighttime security officer. Certainly, such a perception is valid in respect to some police moonlighting situations. The phenomenon of moonlighting among police officers is broader in scope than is the traditional definition of moonlighting.
Many police departments--primarily the larger departments--either prohibit secondary employment by uniformed police officers, or require that police officers obtain departmental approval before accepting such secondary employment (Leonard & Moore, pp. 592-593). Police departments that restrict ordinary secondary employment by their uniformed officers frequently create internal or quasi-internal moonlighting situations that permit police officers to earn extra income.
Quasi-internal moonlighting may be said to involve the use of police officers for special event policing, such as providing security at a major sporting event (Leonard & Moore, pp. 592-593. In some instances, the police department may authorize police officers to accept such secondary employment directly from the sponsors of such events, in which case the secondary employment is consistent with the traditional perception of moonlighting. In other instances, however, special event sponsors arrange with the police department to provide the necessary police officers for crowd security, traffic control, or whatever, and the special even s...