Summary
"Many police agencies throughout the U.S. have adopted variations on the traditional five-day,eight-hour day work schedule. Compressed schedules, those in which there are fewer but longer days each work week, have become increasingly attractive to law enforcement executives and personnel for a variety of reasons. However, there is no known national source that indicates the extent to which compressed schedules have been implemented. As part of a larger study examining the impact of various shift schedules on safety, health, performance, and quality of life, the Police Foundation conducted a random telephone survey of 300 police agencies to determine the proportion of agencies that have adopted compressed schedules. We also examined variables based on agency size and the use of shift rotation, as well as trends associated with each over time. The purposes of this telephone survey, conducted first in November 2005 and again in November 2009, were to determine the proportion of agencies that use compressed shift schedules (e.g., 8-, 10-, or 12- hour shifts or some variation) for their field patrol officers, and to identify the extent to which agencies employ rotating shifts."--Introduction.