With ambush attacks happening across the country, taking a nap in a public place is ill-advised. But the deeper officer safety concern is the fact that these two officers were sufficiently fatigued to need that sleep in the first place. What steps is your agency taking to address officer fatigue? Complete the box below to share best practices for addressing this critical officer safety issue.
By Bill Carey
Police1 Staff
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — Two Long Island police officers are under investigation after they were recorded sleeping inside their cruiser.
The two officers, who were recently assigned overnight duty, were patrolling the Terrace Avenue community. Their car was running and the driver’s window was down, as the resident easily showed in the up-close video, CBS New York reported.
“We are aware of the video. It is under investigation. Public safety is our top priority. Therefore, appropriate measures will be taken,” Assistant Chief Richard Holland said.
Assistant Chief Holland said the video was recorded between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m.
“It’s a vulnerable situation where you are asleep, and you are in an area where there is high crime. Anything can happen,” said Randy Stith, president of the Hempstead School Board. “The officers and everybody are fortunate that the person had nothing else in mind but to videotape the incident.”
Sleeping while on duty is grounds for disciplinary action that may include termination of employment.
RELATED: How supervisors can identify signs of police officer fatigue
Police1 readers respond
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We have 3 off and 4 on, then 4 off and 3 on. Everyone gets a weekend off. We run 12-hour shifts that lessen the time for extra jobs. As supervisors, we encourage officers to come to us if too tired. We will let them rest or send them home. They are no good to us fatigued.
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We have a maximum number of hours that can be worked in a day (20), rolling 48-hour period (30), and rolling week (84). Also, officers get 10 hours minimum rest between mandatory shifts and 8 hours between voluntary shifts when the preceding shift was over 16 hours.
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Implemented a maximum number of hours (16) officers are able to work in any 24-hour period and not to exceed a set number of hours (76) in a given work week.
- As a watch lieutenant, I had to make sure the officers were not volunteering for overtime shifts at the expense of their health, exhaustion included. The officers did not like my interference with their money-making, but someone had to ensure there was balance in their life. I reminded them daily of their obligations to their family to stay safe, as well as their obligation to their co-workers to be rested and available for backup. Working midnights is difficult to manage for a family, but it can be done and it is done every day.
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If officers are fatigued isn’t it better they get a 10-20 min nap than keep driving? Should have a room set up for officers at the station to be able to take small naps when not having to respond to jobs. It’s all about officers’ well-being.
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It is unfortunate that this happened at all, this issue could have been brought to their attention by waking them and having a conversation about community and safety concerns, calling a supervisor and handled internally would have been a better approach and would, in the long run, had a more positive effect and impact on the officers involved.
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CBS Is within its rights to post any video received, however, this is an example of why the media is no longer respected. No context is provided. All too often CBS and the legacy media will “explain” to viewers what they want you to see, with fires in the background telling viewers that demonstrators are peaceful. Here an impartial review of the video shows this was an unintentional event! Note: The officers were in a car with the car running, emergency lights on with a window partially open in an attempt to prevent falling asleep ALL in plain view of the public. Police officers can make mistakes and this is one where they could have been hurt. The media should support our police officers and thank them while also understanding that they are people – nice people – also. From a veteran officer from the NYPD who worked the steady overnight shift – from cop to captain for many years – a shift that many officers avoid working due to it impacting upon their sleep I would submit the following: To all of the officers of Hempstead Police Department and every officer working on the 1st Platoon everywhere - because it is not easy – THANK YOU!
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None. Our department is considering rotating shifts only making the problem worse.