Date: October, 2006
To: Chief of Police
From: 2006 Patrol Schedule Research
Committee
Subject: Alternative Patrol Schedule Findings
The committee was charged with selecting three top choices of patrol schedules. During this research, the committee has discovered several additional suggestions aimed toward the goal of increasing departmental efficiency by increasing manpower on the street, increasing morale, and increasing self-initiated activity.
Our suggestions include:
· Patrol Schedule Recommendation with Focus On:
- Schedule of Days Worked
- Overlapping Work Days
- Shift Length
- Morale Considerations and Self Initiated Activity
- Permanent vs. Rotating
- Community Perception
· Restructuring District Court
· Restructuring Vacancies
· Implementing Minimum Staffing
· Implementing Shift Differential Pay
Recommended Patrol Schedule (4/4):
Upon completion of research, the 2006 Patrol Schedule Committee came to the same conclusion on this matter as each previous committee of the past two decades. The four on / four off (4/4) is the most efficient and desirable patrol schedule, and it is the unanimous choice of this committee and 96% of the 258 patrol officers polled.
The 5/4 was viewed as a compromise which shortened the work day to 10.25 hours and retained the four off days. The 5/3 was adamantly opposed by the committee and patrol. Please refer to the Power Point presentation for comparison / contrast of the potential schedules.
Implications of Overlapping Work
Days:
The committee reviewed numerous
schedules in search of increased manpower and shorter work days. Schedules
that allow divisions to overlap on certain days do indeed increase the number
of officers on duty that day. However,
the result is less coverage another time or day of that week. One fact came to light on each schedule
researched. Stronger on one day equals
weaker on another day. The pizza or pie example has been
overused. I will try to explain with a
paint example. If given one gallon of
paint to cover a wall, you may elect to spread the paint evenly across the
entire wall. i.e. 4/4, or you may choose to paint thick coverage in some spots
and thin in other spots. i.e. overlapping days schedules.
The current 4/4 manpower deployment is at 50%. This could be increased to 53%-55% by implementation of the District Court restructuring recommendation discussed later in the report. The 5/4 manpower deployment would average 55%. The 5/3 manpower deployment would average 62%. The increased manpower deployments appear impressive. However, the numbers are deceptive.
Each employee has 2080 work hours per year. This number is based on 40 work hours per week multiplied times 52 weeks per year. This number consistently applies to every schedule investigated. Each schedule is a variation of manpower deployment. An increase of officers on certain days will always result in a decrease of officers on another day or a decrease of coverage hours. An increase of officers during certain hours will always result in a decrease of officers at others hours. The 2080 hours per year rule holds steadfast for every schedule. Increasing the number of officers on the street is impossible by reallocation of existing patrol manpower. The only way to increase the number of officers on the street is to increase the number of officers. A change of shifts is a reallocation of manpower, not an increase of officers.
Recommend Length of Shift (11 Hours):
During the first 2006 patrol Schedule Committee meeting; Chief Bellamy tasked the group with shortening the Patrol Officers work day. The 11 hour shifts were perceived as fatiguing to officers and decreasing productivity. Some command staff and patrol officers concurred. However, the vast majority of patrol disagreed. They cited two main reasons. First, the veteran officers recalled the 10 ½ hour shift as very manageable when working permanent shifts. Instead, they blamed shift rotation for their fatigue, sleep disorders, and morale / discontent. Second, less hours worked per day will result in more days worked. Patrol clearly understands this. The 2005 Patrol Schedule survey of all patrol officers revealed that 96% wished to keep the 4/4 schedule.
The 2006 research committee discovered there is a fine balance between shift lengths. Efficiency is the key. Too short of a shift and resources are wasted. Too long of a shift and resources are taxed. The majority of the committee and patrol believes the 11 hour shift is the balance point. A reduction of shift length hours will result in an additional day added to the work week. This is a reduction in efficiency. Each tour of duty requires out-of-service time for line-up, breaks, meals, and vehicle equipment transfer. By adding an additional day to the work week, you lose additional street patrol time. An extra day added to the work week increases the weekly total out-of-service time.
Morale Considerations and Self
Initiated Activity:
The Committees’ research revealed that officers are in a constant state of fatigue. The 2005 research revealed patrol officer’s self initiated activity had dramatically declined each year of rotating shifts. (See “Self-Initiated Activity Statistics” below).
Self-Initiated Activity Statistics
|
Fiscal Year |
Yearly Total |
Decrease from |
% Decrease Yearly |
|
2002-2003 |
26,273 |
|
|
|
2003-2004 |
23,064 |
3,209 |
12.2% |
|
2004-2005 |
21,585 |
4,688 |
20.3% |
The decline alone is concerning. However, the decrease has even larger implications of future concerns. Generally speaking, rookies begin their career at a fast pace. They actively perform traffic stops and self-initiated activity throughout their first several years before settling into a more veteran pace. Considering all the additional new officers allowed by city management, approximately half of the patrol force is newer or “rookie” status. Self-initiated activity should have dramatically increased. It did not. It significantly decreased. Why? The morale issues surrounding Permanent vs. Rotating Shifts.
Permanent vs. Rotating Shifts:
It is common knowledge that morale is down at the Greensboro Police
Department. The most common factor that Patrol Officers attributes to this is rotating shifts. Rotational shift work causes sleep related
disorders, gastrointestinal abnormalities, and increased risk of cardiovascular
disease. In addition, your ability to
cope with rotational work deteriorates with age. Sleep deprivation causes mood swings and
performance declines[1]. Modern research agrees on one point,
rotating shift work is the least healthy and the least productive option. Even our Greensboro Police Department
in-service wellness class opens with the detrimental effects of rotational
shifts and how to attempt to cope. Our
own officers know this. They live it
daily. In the 2005 research survey, 88% officers reported sleep problems and
25% sought professional aid.
The 2005 Patrol Committee examined patrol schedules of fourteen similar agencies in our region. Six of the agencies rotated, five had permanent shifts, and three agencies combined rotating and permanent shifts. Large progressive agencies appear to be realizing the benefits of permanent shifts and implementing change. Police departments are moving away from rotating shifts. In cities with more than 100,000 populations, permanent shift assignments are widely used to facilitate the assignment of officers to shifts according to workload[2]. The Greensboro Police Department’s progressive transition to permanent shifts was ahead of it’s time in the early 1990’s. Both long and short term heath benefits and increased productivity were cited as reasons for the change.
The Greensboro Police Department is in a unique position since our more experienced patrol officers have first hand knowledge of the difference between rotating and permanent shifts. After the previous 12 years of permanent shifts, they have not accepted rotating shifts for 2 ½ years. The veterans, who experienced permanent shifts, have bred discontent which has filtered down to the new officers. The decline in work and performance is visibly measured by the decrease of self-initiated activity. The new officers of today are the training officers of tomorrow. The committee believes this course of decline and discontent is reversible with a change in morale. Improved morale would begin the “buy in” process where officers increase their work efforts and productivity. The committee feels the current “survival mode” mindset would be replaced with a “motivated ownership” mentality and an overall reduction in crime.
The 2005 Patrol survey was completed by a total of 258 patrol officers, corporals, and sergeants. 96% percent wished to remain on the 4/4 schedule and 85% percent desired permanent shifts. The overwhelming majority desired a 4/4 permanent shift schedule. This was not surprising to the committee. However, the breakdown of shift preference was a surprise. Of the 258 officers polled, (the entire patrol division), 25% chose first shift, 22% chose second shift, 33% chose third shift, and 15% chose fourth shift. Based on the current patrol schedule of four shifts, the breakdown of shift choice was proportional. The vast majority of officers could receive their first choice of shifts. Additionally, the breakdown of veteran experience was acceptably proportional.
Community Perception:
The patrol committee felt the perception of the 4/4 was misunderstood by
the public and city management. Nine
weeks of the year it is a 5/3 because officers attend scheduled District
Court. Large events like the A&T
Homecoming, Super Jams, ACC Tournaments, Fun 4th and Dignitary
Visits result in a 5/3 or 6/2 for those weeks as well. Therefore, many of our
workweeks are currently not 4/4. By comparison, the
(Restructuring
and Implementation Recommendations)
Restructuring District Court:
The committee recommends an improvement in District Court efficiency. Currently District Court spends the morning session calling the court calendar, requesting pleas, plea bargaining cases, and accepting pled in cases. None of which requires the officer’s presence. Officers are involved in some hallway conferences with Prosecutor and Defense Attorney’s during the morning session. However, trials are often reserved for the afternoon session which begins upon return from lunch break at 2:00 p.m.
The committee recommends drastically changing the court day to reflect this routine. This could be facilitated by District Court liaisons who monitor morning sessions and contact officers who are required for trials at 2:00 p.m. This system would allow evening and night shift officers to begin their tour of duty in court and complete it on patrol. This would also be the least disruptive for the night shift officers. Day shift officers would simply remain on call during their tour of duty. We currently apply this successful system with Superior Court cases.
Successful implementation would result in a real increase in manpower on the streets. For example, (288 Patrol Officers multiplied by 8 hours per court day multiplied by 9 court days per year equals 20,736 man hours.) The majority of the increase could be applied to Patrol, COP, Warrants Service, Traffic Safety, Special Events, or any other issue Command deemed necessary.
Restructuring Vacancies:
The committee recommends restructuring the vacant positions philosophy. Historically the Patrol Division has shouldered a large percentage of departmental vacancies, while other non-patrol positions were filled. The committee recommends a more evenly distributed or “shared” vacancy policy throughout the department. This would increase and maintain the number of patrol officers on the street, improve patrol morale, and increase the efficiency of patrol services. The committee realizes this new policy may not be applicable in some areas like the SRO’s.
Implementing Minimum Staffing:
The committee recommends implementing
a minimum staffing requirement for late
night patrol shifts. The concept is
that patrol officers on day shift and afternoon shift can request and receive
immediate assistance from other divisions.
For example, Traffic, TSET, Vice / Narcotics, CRT, SRO’s. However, patrol officers on midnight shifts
have no immediate assistance available.
This officer safety issue could be addressed by mandatory minimum
staffing requirements on late shifts. The stress on midnight shift officers could
be reduced or erased by implementing a “paid fill in” or a “trade fill in”
program. This would allow night
officers to be off without their squad working understaffed. The
Implementing Shift Differential
Pay:
The committee further recommends
using shift differential pay to reward
officers willing to work midnight shifts on a permanent basis. Court, training, meetings, and classes are
all based on day shift hours. Midnight
officers are discriminated against. The committee believes a bias in pay would
improve morale, entice veterans to remain on night shifts, and offset the
inconveniences of daytime obligations.
G. G. Young, Sergeant
Western Operations
Western Division
Squad E