INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department is launching a new pilot after officers voted to test out a 10-hour shift model, WRTV reported.
With the new model, officers will work five 10-hour shifts, followed by three days off. Then they will work four 10-hour shifts followed by four days off, according to the report. The plan will allow officers 37 more days off every year, as well as fewer consecutive workdays.
Previously, IMPD operated with 8.5-hour shifts, where officers worked six days in a row with a three-day weekend.
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The plan was developed in conjunction with the local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police. Officers also got to vote on whether they wanted to try the new schedule. The overwhelming majority voted “yes,” according to the report.
The work day is divided into four staggered shifts:
- Day: 6:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
- Middle: 11:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
- Late‑TAC: 4:30 p.m. – 2:30 a.m.
- Late: 9:00 p.m. – 7:00 a.m.
The staffing overlap during mid-day is meant to ensure adequate coverage during peak call hours, according to the report.
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The department hopes that having longer weekends and putting more officers on duty during the busiest hours will allow officers more time to focus on family and other activities and improve officer wellness.
“The officers can support each other and better support our community. [If] more officers [are] working, then maybe the same officers don’t have to go to the second shooting scene on that particular day. They can patrol a neighborhood, have an opportunity to do a foot patrol, interact with a community member, visit a school, those types of things, instead of going to those same kinds of trauma.”
If you had the choice, would you pick an 8-hour or 10-hour shift model — and why? Share with us below:
Police1 readers respond:
- Having worked both, 10-hour shifts was the best thing our agency has done for the officers. Because it is manpower intensive and recruiting is down, we are now having to consider 12-hour shifts and the officers are furious.
- Some years ago our dept went from a rotating 8hr 6 on 2 off (until weekend where it was 3 off) to a rotating 10hr shift like the one described. It was fantastic. In the last couple of years, our dept switched to 12hr shifts. With the amount of calls, mandatory O.T. ( no more than 16hrs in a shift) that patrol has to endure, I believe officers are overworked. The 10hr shift was a good plan.
- I’m all for the longer shifts with more time off. 100%.
- I prefer 5, eight-hour days, if I had sufficient staffing. Currently, I am forcing my deputies to work 12-hour shifts with alternating 3 and 4-day weekends off. I don’t understand how you can manage with 10-hour shifts and alternating 3 and 4 days weekends off.
- How is the overtime created addressed?
- Our shifts were 4 on 4 off - 12-hour shift. Two dayshifts the two night shifts. It was better for time off and easier on the body. The staggered day shift suggested won’t work
- I like the 10-hour shift gives officers more time with family and not being overworked with less stress.
- I loved the 4-10 schedule at my last department in California (four ten-hour days). Transitioning from 5-8’s was an adjustment, but it wasn’t long before I was focusing on how much I loved that third day off every week.
- When I started on my department, we worked 8.5-hour shifts. The knowledge of my area of coverage was phenomenal. The decision to switch to our current 12-hour shifts inherently started the demise of my department — from morale to the welfare of the workers. The department I work for, due to staffing, can never go back to 8-hour shifts. But if someone smart enough could figure out how to ask for help in explaining to leadership that we, the sworn officers, signed up to work whatever, but our families didn’t. If our higher-ups would think about the betterment of the department for those of us who have to carry the brunt of their “ideas” with no consequence to themselves, it would be great.
- Excuse me for intruding. I want to support the 10-hour model. I’m an RN who has worked every kind of shift on my 38 years, and 10 hours was the best. It allowed me enough rest to be able to work out before my shifts, and my time off was much higher quality. I hope it works out for all law enforcement agencies that are considering it.
- Definitely 10 hours over 8! We currently work 12-hour shifts which is great, but the proposed 10 hour schedule is intriguing. 12 hour shifts can get pretty long. Most of us like them because of the time off.
- History always repeats itself with good old 8-hour shifts — 5 on, 2 off. In my 38 years, having worked different shift patterns, the 8-hour shift was easiest though most won’t admit it.
- 10 hr shift. This was my schedule for 20 years, and the 3-day weekend every week for our 4/3 schedule was fantastic.
- 10-hour shift model, much, much better than 8-hour shift model.
- I always worked an 8-hour shift. It usually went over the time, completing reports, late calls, etc. If you schedule a 10-hour shift, it can easily turn into a longer shift and extreme fatigue.
- There are many departments who have using the “10-4” plan for over 20 years. This is nothing new.
- Having worked 8-, 10- and 12-hour shifts throughout my career, I have found 10-hour shifts with 3 days off the most ideal. I could never go back to 8-hour shifts with only 2 days off. I do wish our department would go to 4 10’s with 4 days off so that we could share having weekends off.
- The department I worked for did 10-hour shifts with 3 days off/ week. We also rotated shifts: days to hoots to evenings. We rotated every 3 months and when you changed shifts, you changed days off. We had out longest overlap on evenings/hoots between 2100 and 0100, when you usually needed more officers on the street. That had a lot of advantages. Beware though, the city figured out they could drop 2 officers from each shift if they could get us to go to 8-hour shifts. They tried to negotiate that into the contract every year.
