Demotion One Level??

[TGS]

But if you want to dig deep enough…

…how many of those cops and troopers are accurately reporting their personal use of government vehicles as fringe benefits on their federal income tax returns?

My son, I feel as if you work for an OIG......

*blesses The Frenchie with a holy trinity hand gesture*

[Borderland]

Yeah. That was probably the biggest shock to me when I jumped over to the fed side. At the local level no one cared if I used my take home vehicle for personal errands when I was the on-call defective. I kept a suit in the back in case I got called out while going to the range or grocery store or wherever. One of my classmates had previously been employed with SLED. He said they didn’t care what he did with his take home as long as it stayed within the state of SC. He could take his whole family on vacation in the g-ride.

Here, god help you if you’re caught doing any personal business in the take home.

True dat. A woman I know was terminated for dropping one of her children off at day care in an agency vehicle. For official use only means different things to different people.

[TC215]

We just instituted a new Giglio policy that requires people to disclose any Giglio factors to a Giglio panel and it's now tracked internally by the agency. Previously, there was no internally maintained Giglio list, just the suitability check for Giglio impairment when we get hired.

From chatting with various people, I've heard agents are usually on that list for stuff like misuse of a g-ride and other administrative misrepresentations/"frauds" that don't rise to a criminal level. For those of you reading this who aren't familiar, federal vehicle use rules are fairly strict and actually quite easy to run afoul of even if you're not intending misuse, unlike state/local who are commonly allowed to conduct personal business in them. It's one of those things that falls in the category of the agency being able to find a violation if they want to.

But if you want to dig deep enough…

…how many of those cops and troopers are accurately reporting their personal use of government vehicles as fringe benefits on their federal income tax returns? Screwing that up could be a Giglio issue too.

[Le Français]

My son, I feel as if you work for an OIG......

*blesses The Frenchie with a holy trinity hand gesture*

“Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime.” Not an ideal state of affairs, to be sure.

[Stephanie B]

Here, god help you if you’re caught doing any personal business in the take home.

So, if the grocery store is literally on your way home, you have to go home, drop off the g-ride and then drive your car back to the store?

…how many of those cops and troopers are accurately reporting their personal use of government vehicles as fringe benefits on their federal income tax returns?

Probably about as many car dealers who are reporting the use of the dealership's cars (and the dealer plates) when they take their families on trips. There's a story about that, but for another section, maybe.

[TGS]

So, if the grocery store is literally on your way home, you have to go home, drop off the g-ride and then drive your car back to the store?

Correct.

The use has to be determined to be "to the advantage of the government, not the employee", I think is the wording. If you put an extra mile on the clock by driving through the access road and circling the parking lot to get in and out of the grocery store, you're fucked. You're not supposed to make stops out of your way. If the grocery store isn't literally on the street you're driving down to get home, you are technically in violation. By law, misuse of a GOV is an automatic 30-day suspension. Now, your average supervisor isn't comparing mapquest to your stated miles for each trip, and most supervisors will try to justify the trip as official if they can (why were you at the grocery store? You were buying bottled water and energy bars for the protection detail you start in two days, right?) but the hickup usually comes about from an accident where there's a discrepancy between what your mileage and location is supposed to be versus what it actually is. and it can't be explained as a job function.

If we're out doing field stops or working somewhere that doesn't have restroom facilities or food service, we're allowed to do things like get food, coffee, etc, or if TDY away from home we can use it for going to get food, grocery shopping, going to the laundromat, etc. The big variable in all this that can make or break you is that your supervisor has to approve whether you were good-to-go on an authorized trip/in scope of duty when the accident form is completed. To wit, I used my G-ride to go pick up suits getting tailored on the way home from work, because they were getting tailored specifically for my protection duties to be used on the job; my supervisor said I was okay to do that, so I was okay if I got in an accident. In addition, I can use a GOV to go to the range, since shooting at a range to maintain proficiency is in the scope of my duties; if I were to bring my girlfriend to go shooting with me during work hours, that's fine, but I can't bring her in the G-ride...only official personnel.

[Le Français]

So, if the grocery store is literally on your way home, you have to go home, drop off the g-ride and then drive your car back to the store?

To add to what TGS said, some federal agencies allow (by written policy) personnel assigned to some remote offices to use their GOVs for personal business such as getting a haircut, grocery shopping, etc. The reasoning is that if you live in a tiny town where options for those things are limited, and casework takes you to a big city three hours away, it’s downright inhumane to force the employee to forgo the opportunity and drive all the way back in a POV later. Note that the vast majority of offices don’t have this in place.

[Paul D]

I went to school in New Orleans in the 90's. I'm not completely surprised or dismayed by the OPs post/news.

Back then, the same cop who patrolled the beat where a bar/stripper club was during the day would be the bouncer there at night. NOPD cops were poorly paid for long time and thus had to supplement their income "somehow". I guess it was part of a deep rooted culture. I don't think it had anything to do with race either. Both the black and white cops were equally corrupt. I just learned to stay away from them.

[TGS]

I went to school in New Orleans in the 90's. I'm not completely surprised or dismayed by the OPs post/news.

Back then, the same cop who patrolled the beat where a bar/stripper club was during the day would be the bouncer there at night. NOPD cops were poorly paid for long time and thus had to supplement their income "somehow". I guess it was part of a deep rooted culture. I don't think it had anything to do with race either. Both the black and white cops were equally corrupt. I just learned to stay away from them.

What you're referring to is very common across the nation, is legal, is ethical, and is not a sign of corruption.

The problem is performing your 2nd job/overtime detail/off-duty gig at the same time you're actually on shift.

[0ddl0t]

Doube dipping seems to be a forced resignation with a positive recommendation here. We have a firearms instructor locally who has bounced between 6 different agencies for charging for interagency training while on the clock. The OIG once recommended prosecution to the AG, but nothing came of it.