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Update on Police Scheduling Research

March 22, 2013

The National Institute of Justice recently published a study comparing the cost-savings and benefits associated with various scheduling strategies for police officers. As noted in this month's The Police Chief, the findings hold promise for agencies looking to control costs without sacrificing the health and well-being of their law enforcement personnel.

The NIJ research study showed that 10-hour shifts may be the best alternative for most departments, offering both the best outcomes in terms of employee health and job satisfaction. Comparing shifts of 8-, 10-, and 12-hour lengths, the researchers examined how shift-duration affects performance, health, safety, quality of life, sleep, fatigue, alertness, off-duty employment, and overtime.

Findings included:

  • 10-hour shifts have advantages over 8-hour shifts, including more time sleep per night and higher quality of work life. Reduced overtime for those working 10 hours also led to cost-savings for departments using this schedule.
  • Benefits associated with working 10-hour shifts did not carry over when officers worked 12-hour shifts; in addition, 12-hour shifts led to greater fatigue and lower levels of alertness, posing safety risks for both officers and the public.
  • 8-hour shifts often lead to substantially higher organizational costs, as officers working these shifts averaged more than 5 times the overtime when compared to those working 10-hour shifts.
  • Duration of shift had little-to-no impact on employee performance, work-family conflict, or health.

The authors conclude that the multitude of benefits - for both police officers and the organizations they serve - may make 10-hour shifts the preferred scheduling option for departments that are able to adapt this structure.

June 9, 2016

Many of us have worked with a bad boss in our lifetime. Remember the micro-manager, the yeller,  the softy, the one who’s never there, and/or the boss who takes all the credit for your work? We've all experienced trials and tribulations working under these leadership styles. "It’s frustrating," we say to ourselves, "but that's life." What if, though, we could somehow magically transform supervisors of this sort into competent, inspiring leaders?

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