HOOVER, Ala. — The Hoover Police Department has officially moved to 12-hour shifts in an effort to improve officer wellness, ABC 3340 reported.
Under the schedule, every patrol officer will have every other Friday, Saturday and Sunday off. The weekend time off represents a change from the department’s previous 8-hour system, where weekend days off were awarded based on seniority and newer officers were required to request time off in order to have a free weekend.
| How 8-, 10- and 12-hour police shifts really affect staffing and wellness
“We’re always looking at how can we best serve the public and how can we best take care of our officers,” Capt. Daniel Lowe told ABC 3340. “As we’ve been looking at the future of what the Hoover Police Department needs to look like, we were examining really everything that we’re doing.”
Department leaders hope that allowing officers more predictable time to spend with family and friends will create better work-life balance and attract new officers to the force.
The Hoover Police Department is at 96% staffing, ABCC 3340 reported. Still, officials hope that the remaining positions can be filled by officers interested in the new system.
“We’re wanting to provide the best level of service that we possibly can,” Lowe said. “The standard that we’ve always provided will remain the same.”
Do you think 12-hour patrol shifts improve officer wellness? Why or why not?
Police1 readers respond:
- Absolutely, it will reduce stress and improve home life.
- The older you get and still working patrol, the more you realize what a horrible decision it was to switch to 12-hour shifts. All the young guys who do not have families yet will realize they cannot attend family events and kids’ games like they would if they were on an 8-hour shift. On your long weekend, which has a base time of 36 hours, good luck not finishing your Sunday with over 40 hours. Never mind the midnight shift. All I can say is good luck.
- No, I do not. I worked them all and in my opinion, 12 hours is too long to spend in a patrol car and taking calls. The first day of the three days off you just sleep away due to being exhausted. You’re also not as alert during the time you’re 10-8. It’s not a matter of IF one of these civilians get killed; it’s when!!!!!! They will beg the police back.
- Without a doubt, 12-hour shifts are the way to go. In my career, we’ve worked 8-hour shifts and 10-hour shifts. The 12-hour shifts give the officer every other weekend off and promote more stability in their lives, giving them more family time together and more days off. It’s most definitely a win/ win situation for everyone!
- When I started in 1997, my department was on the Kelly System for 8-hour days (every 4th and 5th weekend off). We then went to set days off with a new chief. Since I was a rookie, my days off were Wednesday and Thursday (Yuck!). Another change in chiefs went back to Kelly. A push then began amongst the officers for 12-hour shifts. In the beginning, I loved them. As I got older, though, the 12-hour days got very long. The 36 hours in 3 days weekends were even longer, especially having to stay over on a Sunday to finish reports! The 12-hour shift though, are great for family life. I would recommend them over all the other shifts I have done.
- Worked this shift for years, and I think it’s the best option out there.
- I have worked 8-hour shifts and 12-hour shifts. For my specific case, no I do not think the 12-hour shift improves wellness. I was fortunate to land a position at our PD that is on a M-F 8-hour schedule, and I much prefer that. 12-hour shifts are like working a day-and-a-half every workday, and that’s before you get stuck with a late call, or a ton of paper at the end of the shift. 8-hour days still give me time to do something else every day when I get finished with my shift. On 12-hour days, I only wanted to workout, eat, sleep, get up and do it all over again. It was harder to fit family time in. The days off during the week were nice, but day #1 was usually a recovery day (especially after working 36 hours every other weekend). I guess I prefer fewer hours per day - more days per week. That allows me to balance work/family time better.
- I went from a department that was on an 8 hour schedule to a department with a 12 hour schedule. I’m truly happier with the 12 hour schedule. More time away from work is a great reset.
- I like 12hr shifts but not an every-other-week rotation.
- If you have never worked 12s or 24s, you have no idea how hard they are. Sounds like a problem with staffing and trying to control OT.
- I would like to see follow-ups on this to see how it’s working, if it’s working, if FPD has made modifications, or if they got rid of it. I think it’s good that they are thinking outside the box!
- I’ve worked both 8-hour patrol shifts and 12-hour patrol shifts after my department switched to them. 8-hour shifts, in my opinion, are much better for officer well-being. While the amount of days off are nice with 12-hour shifts, the rotating between nights and days is miserable. 12 hours is also too long of a day on patrol and allows for very little personal time on work days. 8-hour shifts allowed me more time with my family even on work days, including midnight shifts, as ours didn’t start until 10:30 PM. If a department is worried about the younger officer having weekends off, give a set days-off rotation for officers to go on and let seniority decide which shift they prefer. Otherwise, as my department has always stated, “put in your time” if you want the weekends off.
- Yes, I do. The schedule mentioned is called the Pittman schedule. It gives EVERYONE a fair chance to have weekends off, instead of just senior officers. This schedule is used by a vast majority of agencies in South Carolina. It is extremely popular. One benefit is that an officer needs only use two days of vacation or comp time to have a full week off. Sick leave goes down, and officers get more rest. They also have more time available to work extra jobs, increasing their income. I don’t think there are many agencies that discard this system once they try it!
- They will love it. I did it for several years and before we were on the 7-day 8-hour shift with one weekend a month off. My health seemed to improve and I felt more rested.
- On Patrol we worked 12-hour shifts 4 days on, 4 days off. Doing 4 on, 4 off you worked a month of weekends and a month of weekends off. Now that 4th day seemed to be real long. Supervisors came in 30 prior to the beginning of the shift to set up the daily briefing. It was well accepted by everyone. ,One of the very few ways the 3 officers may have been terminated is if the officers lied during the Chief’s investigation. Or they lied on their applications when hired. But much beyond those issues, in my opinion, those officers should not have been fired.
- No it won’t. Sick time will increase because officers will be tired. SLOSO tried 12-hour shifts but returned to 4 / 10 hour shifts for that very reason (large increase of sick time).
- Studies show 10-hour shifts are the best for health and wellness. Someone must have had an agenda to go with the 12s. Studies, published here, on Police1, show that after 10 hours you lose cognitive ability. I would love to have 10-hour shifts instead of my current 8.
- Yes I do. Having 4 days off every other week is beyond beneficial. It also provides an opportunity to work overtime shifts when available. This creates room for additional cash flow as well without a crazy burnout.
- We went from a 8 hr. 6 on 2 off a few years ago to 12s with every other weekend off, only way I would agree to it. I’m the senior guy on the department, road-wise, at age 52 and I like the 12s......but I said if we ever went back to 8s, it better be like it was before so I at least get every 6th and 7th weekend off. It was mentioned about set days on 8s and I said watch what you ask for because I will have weekends off and the rest will need to use vacation to get weekends off. That was quickly shot down. Seniority has it’s perks. Only for 7-digit pay, bennies, 12 weeks of vacation and unlimited sick leave.......then it’s a maybe.
- My agency uses 12-hour shifts. My answer to your question is “it depends”. 12 hours is a long time to be “on” and engaged. In fact, it can be exhausting and an officer towards the end of the shift is potentially mentally and physically compromised. If an officer takes care to get physical exercise, good sleep, and eats well, then 12-hour shifts can contribute to officer wellness as the officer only has to work 14 days a month and has plenty of time for a personal life and decompression time.
- Hasn’t worked for my department. Staffing is still short, which admin said would be fixed by going to 12 hours. Saying more officers would be on the patrol shifts. The hours of 7 to 7 isn’t helpful when dealing with night officers going to court. Court isn’t required to work with PD schedule so officers are getting morning and afternoon court. Ergo officers are not getting enough sleep before coming into work. Also if working night shift the officer is actually working 7 hours into their first day off. So their first day of is actually only a half day and they probably need to sleep for a section of it. So much for “officer wellness “. The department had transitioned from a 6 on, 3 off schedule (8 hour days).
- Yes, Panamá schedule is great for allowing more time. You take your short weekdays off and you are off for 7 days and nights. BUT, you have to have 1) personnel to do cover the shift and 2) reliable officers to show up to work. Otherwise, there will be a lot of OT paid out. Best wishes and stay safe!
- I think if 12-hour shifts really mean 12-hour shifts, there is value in implementing them—both to benefit officers and agencies. I believe they work in agencies that rarely require overtime, and that limit off-duty judicial appearances. Otherwise, I think they are problematic for both officers and for agencies.
- I like 12hr shifts but not an every-other-week rotation.
From my 35 years of law enforcement experience, I have seen cops of all ages who were competent and were able to perform at a high level and some that were not. More importantly, all LE organizations should have yearly fitness assessments and adhere to strict compliance with all recertifications and annual in-service training standards. If an officer can perform to the standards, then age should be irrelevant. I have worked 36 years in law enforcement and have experience working 8, 10 and 12-hour shifts. My last five years have been on the 12-hour shift model rotating every 8 weeks between days and nights. It is beneficial to be off every other Friday through Sunday. However, the 12-hour shift is physically and mentally grueling, even with the three-day weekend twice per month. The 8 and 10-hour shifts provided for less total days off but better rest and sleep as a whole. The on-duty days are very difficult as one gets little sleep, especially if you add in training, court etc. 12-hour shifts would be more tolerable on a fixed shift model and not rotating. The 12-hour shift just isn’t a long-term benefit in terms of rest, health and preparedness for duty. Another important consideration is to ensure adequate leave is available to officers and a suitable number of officers working every shift. I worked for a department that was always short-staffed. Answering every call on a busy summer weekend for 12 hours isn’t sustainable. All in all I feel the 8-hour shift is still the best all around.
