There’s plenty of mandatory overtime, forced doubles, and backfill going on in high-crime areas on the taxpayer’s dime and almost every summer many districts start canceling days off in the summer. There’s no shortage of government time. With the amount of cancelled days off and forced overtime many people work the equivalent of thirteen to fifteen months a year. The difference between this and a BID slot is that department overtime is on the taxpayers dime and you can be compelled to do it while BID overtime (and other details like the Nats) are voluntary and it’s privately funded. If you choose to do on your time it’s the officers decision.

Also- nobody is making $100 an hour- usually BID slots are straight time (ie whatever your normal wage is) or time and a half for a few hours a night. Most BID overtime guys aren’t looking to make lockups- they’re there for visibility and deterrence and if nothing pops off while they’re there than they’ve done their job and the BID is happy. If there is an arrest (likely Simple Assault, Unlawful Entry, theft, etc.) most never go to trial so court pay never happens. Besides, almost nobody loves Court here- it’s often on your day off or not your shift, and parking sucks compared to suburban court houses.