Mounted search and rescue

[Doug Reynaud <dreynaud@openspaceauthority.org>]

Irv- Thank you for the information, have you any creative Ideas to circumvent these points, we are not union and it is not a volunteer program i am dealing with-Doug

On Mon, Feb 9, 2009 at 9:38 PM, IRVIN LICHTENSTEIN <ilichten1@verizon.net> wrote:

--------------------------------------------------
> Doug Reynaud wrote:
>>are there any agency msar and or mounted patrols that allow the use of
>>rider owned mounts.

If you are a career person who gets paid to patrol or be a peace officer, or
a responder the rules are entirely different than for volunteers.  Some are
the same in that child labor laws limit the amount of time a member under 18
can be in the field on a per shift basis, per day basis, per week, and
whether school is in session or not.  They also limit what a minor can do.

If you are paid by a jurisdiction to patrol that jurisdiction you must be
paid for all hours spent patrolling, getting ready to patrol, and getting
trained to patrol, both initial and continuing education.  The federal law
requires time and half after 8 hours per day, and 40 hours per week unless a
collective bargaining agreement states otherwise or certain exceptions such
as federal firefighters who sleep in during a 24 hour shift.  Thus we see 3
12's as a shift pattern, mixed 10 and 14 shifts, 8 hours with or without
rotation, and so forth.  Special skills or risks can be rewarded as
well--flight pay, SWAT pay, motorcycle pay, and so forth can be bargained
for.

The primary rule is that if you work you get paid. You cannot volunteer your
time in the same jurisdiction that pays you for the same service.  You
cannot be a paid peace officer during the day and a volunteer Town Watch
patrol person at night in the same town.

Doug's problem is how to pay for get ready time for mounted officers who do
not go to a police stable and clock in at the start of a shift so they get
paid for grooming and tacking.  Further, if these horses are not kept in a
police barn when does the clock start? Morning feed, loading on a trailer
for transport to a patrol beat, or some other time.  Uniforms, tack and
special equipment can be covered as expenses or uniform allowance items but
work time must be defined, agreed to by the union and the jurisdiction, and
rigidly adhered to. For purposes of recall and disability insurance many
career fire departments prohibit their employees from working for another
fire or EMS organization, public or private without written permission.
This is because of occupational exposures to toxins and pathogens that
cannot be traced back to where the exposure occurred.  The claim is filed
with the agency with the best disability coverage.  What happens in
jurisdictions that let the officer take his patrol car home? The benefit of
the car is often considered payment for any off duty activities but how do
you quantify a horse the department doesn't own?

You have to be very careful when dealing with paid personnel, even if you
are not their regular employer.  We used to use state employees for search
managers a lot.  Then we found out that the state only sent park managers
out because they were supervisors with budget authority and therefore exempt
from overtime.  This is always a problem with volunteers and cops because
cops are generally paid and paid overtime while the volunteers are lucky to
get fed.

Irv Lichtenstein

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