I help out with carts, sometimes cover electronics, and have even coveted GSA shifts. I do this because I'm nice and my STL likes me to but it IS against directives.
An AP team member cannot work in non-AP roles in a store they are assigned as AP.
The store teams love it when we help out but they can't make us do it. If you volunteer to do it, it's fine. But my paycheck comes from the district office, not the store (why they can't mess with my hours) and they pay me to be present and able to respond and intervene. I can't prevent shoplifting while pushing carts. And I definitely can't ignore a call by saying "sorry I'm covering electronics." It's great for a TPS to be global, but we aren't supposed to be tied down to any workcenter outside of AP.