NCJ Number
219808
Journal
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 76 Issue: 8 Dated: August 2007 Pages: 1-8
Date Published
August 2007
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This article describes the nature and causes of police-officer fatigue and recommends ways to prevent it.
Abstract
Police officers' long hours, shift work, "moonlighting," and irregular hours of work reduce the quantity and quality of sleep. Consequently, fatigue levels rise, leading to adverse effects on officers' health and job performance. Fatigue is a feeling of weariness, tiredness, or lack of energy that undermines alertness, response time, rational thought, and physical performance. Debilitating behaviors associated with fatigue include a higher consumption of alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco; reduced physical exercise; stress; depression; social isolation; unbalanced diet and nutrition; and irregularity of daily meals. Fatigue not only threatens the safety of the individual officer involved, but also fellow officers and the department's mission. Departments should establish strict policies and implement effective enforcement regarding employee "moonlighting." Administrators should review the policies, procedures, and practices that affect shift scheduling, overtime, rotation, the number of work hours allowed, and the way the organization deals with overly tired employees. Administrators should review recruit, supervisor in-service, and roll-call training, as well as executive retreats in order to determine whether personnel are receiving adequate information about the importance of good sleep habits, the hazards associated with fatigue and shift work, and strategies for managing them. Agencies should consider several work/rest rules. The most common policy is the 16/8 formula, i.e., for every 16 hours of work, departments must provide 8 hours of rest time. If resources are limited, managers may have to expand the use of volunteers/reserves. 24 notes