Industry News
NYPD paid detail program: city watchdog finds officers worked past limits
A New York City report on the NYPD paid detail program finds officers worked past weekly limits, got little site information and often waited to be paid.
New York City's Department of Investigation released a report on November 5 on the NYPD paid detail program, which lets private businesses hire uniformed off-duty officers as security, and made 11 recommendations to the police department, the DOI said in its release. The report found gaps in training, site information, hour limits and pay, amNewYork reported.
Key points#
- The report came from DOI's Office of the Inspector General for the NYPD and makes 11 recommendations, according to the DOI release.
- In records from 2023 through 2025, 46% of officers in the program were scheduled for more than 20 hours in a single week at least once, the DOI said.
- Officers get no training made for solo assignments, and vendors do not have to share the security concerns at a site, the release said.
- Several class action lawsuits say vendors left officers unpaid, and the NYPD rarely suspends late payers, amNewYork reported.
What the report found#
The program dates to the late 1990s, when the city's Conflicts of Interest Board advised that officers could work as part-time security guards for private firms in uniform, the DOI release said. Businesses pay the officers and an administrative fee to the NYPD, and the program collected $3.5 million in fees in the first eight months of fiscal year 2026.
The NYPD's own rules cap paid detail work at 20 hours a week and 80 hours a month, with no shift longer than 10 hours, according to the DOI. The review found nearly 30% of officers worked a shift longer than 10 hours at least once, and that hours are tracked in three places: digital logs, vendor sign-in sheets and paper cards.
The DOI looked at the program after an officer was killed in July 2025 while working a paid detail in Midtown, the release said. Commissioner Nadia I. Shihata said, "Officers participating in the Paid Detail Program deserve to have essential training," in the same release.
Pay and vendor rules#
Vendors must send officers' checks within 14 days of the work and are considered delinquent after 30 days, but the unit that runs the program does not track vendor violations and rarely removes vendors, the DOI found. The NYPD did not comment for the story, amNewYork reported.
Among the recommendations: mandatory training before any solo deployment, and a vendor form that lists other tenants, the reason for the request and the risks the officer should watch, according to the DOI.
What it means for your company#
- Know your competition for posts. Buildings that hire paid details are also guard company prospects. A report like this gives you a fair talking point: what your officers know before they stand a post.
- Brief every post. The report's gap was site information. Written post orders that cover the tenants, the reason for the post and the main risks answer that gap for your own officers.
- Train for working alone. Solo posts are their own skill. Track who has finished that training before you assign them.
- Keep hours in one place. Caps only work when one record holds every shift. Check your own schedule rules against your state's labor rules with an attorney.
Guardix keeps post orders, training records and schedules for a guard company in one place.
Frequently asked questions#
What is the NYPD paid detail program?#
It is a program that lets private businesses hire off-duty NYPD officers, in uniform, to work as security, in exchange for the officers' pay and an administrative fee to the NYPD, the DOI said.
What did the report recommend?#
It made 11 recommendations, including training before solo deployments, site details from vendors, simpler timekeeping and stronger action against vendors that pay late, according to the DOI release.
Sources#
- New York
- Policing
- Staffing