Are longer shifts the solution?
With nearly every large department in Maine suffering from staffing shortages and poor recruitment numbers, many administrators have either lengthened shifts from 8 to 10 or 12-hours or they are contemplating the increase. While forcing police officers to work a longer shift may resolve minimum staffing requirements in the short-term, the long-term ramifications on morale, the department’s reputation, retention rates, and officer’s health will be incalculably high.
Anecdotal evidence suggests departments who are attempting to fill open shifts by mandating overtime are losing seasoned officers to smaller departments where the unreasonable demands on officer’s personal time are limited to exigent and not common circumstances. Most police officers understand there may be extreme situations when they are called upon to stay beyond their scheduled time. Times where they must pitch in and help their community as with a major crime, a large-scale traffic accident, or a natural disaster. What they did not sign up for was frequent and routine mandated overtime just to fill open shifts.
Small departments are benefiting from the staffing struggles of larger departments for certain but is the migration all that beneficial to the individual officers? Is the grass truly greener on the other side of the fence? Some say it is only a change in uniform and not a change in the work. Is that true?
The larger question to be answered is “Are the migrating officers running away from something untenable or running towards something better?”
Does it come down to improved economics for the individual officer? It is true some departments are offering large sign-on bonuses which have an obvious appeal if monetary reward is a goal. The hourly rate of pay in Maine for police officers does vary somewhat as does the traditional step-advancement system but some departments have allowed police officers to “transfer” in at equivalent step-levels in an attempt to attract those with more experience.
Most police departments in Maine participate in the Maine State retirement system which allows police officers the portability of their retirement contributions from one department to another. While many departments offer a 25-year retirement plan some offer a less punishing 20-year option. The rate also varies from 50% to 66% depending on how the municipality has structured the benefits package. So, retirement benefits could conceivably be a motivating factor for some police officers to jump ship.
In a future article, the MCRS will look at the benefits of a 20-year retirement for police officers and question the health risks associated with service years 21 through 25.
It is impossible to generalize an explanation for every police officer who transfers from one department to another because the individual variables relevant to making such a decision will be unique to the individual. That said, the financial compensation between departments may differ but by how much is completely relative to the individual. The differences in pay between departments are just not large enough to make a definitive conclusion that “more money” is the reason for an officer to leave one department for another.
If financial compensation is not the driving factor in pulling officers towards a department, could the exodus have to do with the working conditions and what is driving them away?
Let’s consider the adverse impact of frequently mandated overtime on the labor force. On a personal level, it engenders a sense of hopelessness because of the lack of personal control over one’s life. The extraordinary time demands have a cascading impact on the officer’s homelife including the quality of their relationship to their spouse and to their children. The deterioration in the quality of life at home compounds the stress an officer feels. Loneliness, isolation, family conflict and concern about family members can produce enough stress to be considered risk factors. The stress level compounds much the way money builds with compounding interest.
On a physiological level, the long work hours and longer periods of wakefulness reduces the amount of recovery time between shifts which exacerbates fatigue. When a person is affected by fatigue, job performance can be significantly impaired. Impairment will occur in every aspect of human performance (physically, emotionally, and mentally) such as in decision-making, reaction times, judgement, hand-eye coordination, and countless other job-related skills. When impairment due to fatigue, such as impaired memory or poor communication, collides with other risk factors in the environment, accidents can result.
The following is a sample of fatigue’s known effect on performance. Fatigued individuals become more susceptible to errors of attention and memory (for example, it is not uncommon for fatigued individuals to omit steps in a sequence). Fatigued individuals will often select strategies that have a high degree of risk on the basis that they require less effort to execute. Fatigue can negatively affect an individual’s ability to identify and respond to stimuli. Fatigue can also negatively affect problem-solving, which is an integral part of handling new or challenging tasks.
| COGNITIVE | |
| PERFORMANCE TASK | SIGNS / SYMPTOMS |
| Inability to concentrate | Unable to organize a series of activities Preoccupied with a single task Focuses on a trivial problem, neglecting more important ones Reverts to old but ineffective habits Less vigilant than usual Decline in ability to solve complex problems Lapses of attention Difficulty in multitasking |
| Diminished decision-making ability | Misjudges distance, speed, time, etc. Fails to appreciate the gravity of the situation Overlooks items that should be included Chooses risky options Greater indecisiveness |
| Memory Deficits | Fails to remember the sequence of task or task elements Difficulty remembering events or procedures Forgets to complete a task or part of a task Memory lapse |
| Cognitive processing delayed | Responds slowly (if at all) to normal, abnormal or emergency situations |
| BEHAVIORAL | |
| IMPAIRED PERFORMANCE | SIGNS / SYMPTOMS |
| Changes in mood | Quieter, less talkative than usual Unusually irritable Impatient and an increase in anti-social behavior Depression |
| Changes in attitude | Fails to anticipate danger Fails to observe and obey warning signs Seems unaware of own poor performance More willing to take risks Ignores normal checks and procedures Displays a “don’t care” attitude Less desire to socialize Increasing omissions and carelessness Low motivation |
| PHYSICAL | |
| IMPAIRED PERFORMANCE | SIGNS / SYMPTOMS |
| Involuntary need to sleep | Slow eyelid closures Droopy eyelids Itchy eyes Nodding off Inability to stay awake |
| Lack of motor control | Affected speech, e.g. it may be slurred, slowed or garbled, or long word searches Feeling heaviness in the arms and legs Clumsiness, such as increased frequency of dropping objects Difficulty with hand-eye coordination skills Tremors |
| Health Issues | Headaches Giddiness Rapid breathing Digestion problems Leg pains or cramps Insomnia Sudden sweating fits Heart palpitations / irregular heartbeat Loss of appetite (and sometimes an increase in unhealthy eating habits |
Society discourages people from operating motor vehicles if they have been consuming alcohol because it impairs their ability to safely operate machinery. Research on sleep deprivation and driving has prompted the National Safety Council to issue the following guidelines:
- Losing just two hours of sleep is similar to the effect of having three beers.
- Being awake for more than 20-hours is the equivalent of being legally intoxicated.
- A person is 3x more likely to be in a car crash if they are fatigued.
The adverse side effects of acute and chronic sleep deprivation have been thoroughly researched and very well documented. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates impaired performance from sleep deprivation mimics alcohol intoxication:
- Being awake for 17 hours is similar to having a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.05% (the level some countries use for drunk driving violations).
- Being awake for 24 hours is similar to having a BAC of 0.10%.
When employees are not thinking clearly, they are more likely to make mistakes that can be costly or even deadly. In fact, one study, Forkland and Lombardie (2006), showed injury risk begins increasing after 8 hours, with a 13% increase on a 10-hour shift and a 30% increase on a 12-hour shift. These findings were supported by similar results from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and outlined in their interim training for first responders: Reducing Risks Associated with Long Work Hours.
With fewer qualified candidates signing up to become a police officer what’s the solution to the current staffing problems? Unfortunately, there isn’t a panacea for the staffing shortages but one direction to pursue is improving recruitment strategies. Every generation has unique characteristics based on life experiences occurring at the time. Being able to tailor recruitment messages to the current generation of potential candidates will help attract candidates. Creating the right image for your unique department and how it fits within your community will help candidates see how they will become important assets and contributors to the community.
Folkard S, Lombardi D (2006) Modeling the impact of the components of long work hours on injuries and “accidents”. American Journal of Industrial Medicine. 49:953–963.