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If police managers are asked whether or not they are pleased with their shift schedule, the response will most likely be "Yes, ... but." Shift schedules are a problematic maintenance task in law enforcement with no "ideal" format. Each one has both strengths and weaknesses. The issue was first examined by Lawrence (July 1995) in TELEMASP Bulletin Vol. 2, No. 4. A decade later the then-experimental 12hour formats have become common. The data in the earlier bulletin thus needs to be updated. This bulletin examines current shift scheduling practices among 47 responding Texas agencies, including advantages and disadvantages of the dominant formats currently in use, with a focus on the increasingly popular 12-hour shift
Shift Types
In reviewing the types of schedules that are currently employed, core plans are constructed around the 8hour, 10-hour and 12-hour shift designs. The 8-hour work shift calls for a five-day work week, the 10-hour work shift calls for a four-day work week and the 12hour work shift calls for an alternating three-day followed by a four-day work week. Typically, the 8-hour and 10-hour schedules have three different shifts each day, oftentimes supplemented by a fourth "power" or evening overlap shift, while the 12-hour format has only two shifts per day. There are, however, numerous exceptions. The proportion of agencies employing each of the three basic formats is provided in Figure 1.
Shift Rotation
Rather than implementing permanent shifts, some departments choose to rotate an officer's shift. While permanent shifts may help foster community policing efforts, rotation has other benefits, namely giving officers a chance to experience the various changes in beat character(s) that come with working a day or night shift. Rotating shifts also allows officers change to insure that they are not permanently stuck in an undesirable shift, or one that is not conducive to their off-duty activities. Interestingly, the Bedford Police Department has implemented a rotational cycle commensurate with college semesters, thus providing an opportunity for officers to conveniently further their education.
Both the Fraternal Order of Police in Philadelphia and the Chicago Police Lieutenants Association (O'Neil & Cushing, 1990) found that if a department chooses to rotate shifts, then they should be rotated from days to evenings to nights and should occur no less than...