Seattle Police Manual

4.100 – Restricted Time Off

Effective Date: 3/2/2011

POLICY

The Department annually staffs several special events with staffing requirements that exceed the number of available and volunteer personnel. Examples are the Fourth of July, Torchlight Parade, Seafair/Hydros and New Years Eve. In accordance with any applicable collective bargaining agreements, time off for sworn employees and Parking Enforcement Officers will be restricted during these events. The Seattle Police Operations Center (SPOC) will plan and determine staffing needs for these events to ensure the safety of both response personnel and the public. A Special Order containing specific personnel assignments shall be published approximately thirty days prior to each event.

This policy applies only to pre-planned special events for which time off has been restricted and does not apply to time off restrictions resulting from emergency mobilizations, i.e.: large storms, earthquakes, civil disobedience, and other unusual occurrences.

I. Exemptions From Duty

A. Position Exemptions

1. Except for incidents requiring emergency mobilization, detectives assigned to the following units are exempt from the personnel draft for special events:

a. Homicide and Assault Unit detectives designated as “next up” and “standby”

b. Arson/Bomb Unit

c. Traffic Collision Section detectives designated as “standby” at the time of the event

d. CSI unit detectives designated as “standby”

e. Detectives assigned to the Vice and Narcotics Sections who consistently work in an undercover capacity and do not have uniformed secondary work permits, are exempted only from uniform assignments

2. A list of specific personnel that are exempt from the above units by position shall be reviewed and submitted by the respective Bureau Chiefs to the Seattle Police Operations Center (SPOC) by January 31st of each year. Section Captains will immediately forward any positional changes under their command to SPOC by January 31st of each year.

3. Personnel with positional exemptions who have secondary employment permits are prohibited from working in any off-duty capacity during the time of the event.

4. Final exemption approval shall rest with the Deputy Chief of Administration

B. Personal Exemptions

1. A determined number of personal exemptions will be allowed for each bureau based on staffing needs for events. It is up to each bureau to determine who receives the exemption. Due to the limited number of exemptions available to each bureau, priority will be given to those requests that are of a serious or significant personal nature.

2. Employees requesting to be excused for any amount of time during designated restricted time off dates shall forward a Request for Authorized Absence (form 2.23), along with any supporting documentation, via their chain of command in January of each year. The requests will then be forwarded to the Special Operations Bureau Chief by February 10th of each year for review. Following review, the requests will be forwarded to the Deputy Chief of Administration for final approval.

3. Personnel requesting personal exemptions who have secondary employment permits are prohibited from working in any off-duty capacity during the time of the event.

4. If the request is disapproved at any supervisory level, the form will be returned to the requesting officer.

5. The Deputy Chief of Administration will forward the final approved requests to the proper Captains and forward copies to SPOC.

C. Changes in Assignment Status

1. Employees shall ensure that any change in assignment is correctly reflected in the police employee data system (PEDS). If not, the employee shall ensure that the change is submitted by their unit administration via PEDS. The Seattle Police Operations Center will make assignments based on this information. Failure to correctly reflect any assignment change could result in the employee being assigned to the event regardless of their current status