Argentinian police officers are increasingly working second jobs, including as rideshare drivers, often while carrying government-issued firearms. This practice has coincided with a rise in fatal incidents involving off-duty officers between 2025 and 2026, according to the Centre for Legal and Social Studies (Cels) and local reports.

Data from Cels indicates that 75% of deaths caused by police officers using their issued firearms in 2025 occurred while the officers were off duty. Approximately 13% of these incidents involved officers working as rideshare drivers at the time. Cels recorded 16 deaths involving off-duty police officers using issued firearms in 2025, an increase from two such deaths in 2020.

In February 2026, a 30-year-old police officer working as a rideshare driver shot two men who attempted to rob him in La Matanza, near Buenos Aires. The same month, an officer with the Buenos Aires police force died from injuries after being shot by a passenger during a robbery attempt while working as a rideshare driver. The assailant in this incident also died from a gunshot wound. In December 2025, a federal police officer working as a rideshare driver shot and killed a 15-year-old.

Diego, a federal police officer, stated, "It is very common to get in a rideshare and find out the driver also works in the police." He said an officer could earn about 44,000 pesos, or approximately £24, during an eight-hour police shift, while earning 42,000 pesos from rideshare trips in four hours. Many police officers report that their take-home income, even with extra shifts, falls below the poverty line for a family of four in Argentina, which the Argentine government has set at around $1,000 a month.

Victoria Darraidou, the coordinator of security policies and police violence team at Cels, said, "Police officers kill and die more when they are off duty." She stated, "This is because they use their guns without planning, with no support, and in disproportionate ways, and this puts other people and themselves at risk." María del Carmen Verdú, a lawyer and founder of Correpi, said, "If police officers were not allowed to carry their government-issued guns while they are off duty, the number of 'trigger happy' deaths would be significantly reduced." Uber and DiDi prohibit drivers from carrying firearms in Argentina. Despite these policies, it is a common practice for security forces in Argentina to carry their guns at all times.

Police complaints regarding pay and working conditions have increased in Argentina in recent years, leading to a growing number of security force members resigning. President Javier Milei and other officials have publicly commended officers who have used force while off duty. Patricia Bullrich, a senator with Milei's party, La Libertad Avanza, publicly defended Luis Oscar Chocobar, a police officer whose 2021 homicide conviction for a 2017 shooting was annulled in 2024. Bullrich also broadened the circumstances under which police officers are permitted to intervene and use force. Members of the Santa Fe provincial police gathered for a protest outside their headquarters in Rosario on February 10, 2026, demanding better salaries and conditions.