NCJ Number
109559
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 36 Issue: 2 Dated: (February 1988) Pages: 54-57
Date Published
1988
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Responding to concerns of stress due to weekly rotating tours, the 115th precinct in Jackson Heights, Queens, N.Y., launched an experimental steady tour program in January 1984.
Abstract
Stress in police officers can manifest itself in alcoholism, divorce, heart attacks, disability pensions, and even suicide. The steady tour program consists of volunteers signing up for regular shifts. Before and after the program was implemented, questionnaires were given to ascertain changes in stress level and the results were dramatic, indicating significant positive changes in the job frustration scale, physical symptoms, and the quality of the officers' personal lives. One disadvantage of the program is that when officers are limited to a particular tour, they do not become acquainted with colleagues on other tours. In addition to the steady tour change, there was a change to the platoon commander system which resulted in a more direct chain of command, clearer lines of authority, and a greater delegation of responsibility over the men and their specific actions.