Shift Work, Fatigue, and Overtime in Policing: Balancing Officer Wellness and Public Safety

The Big Picture Modern law enforcement operates 24/7. Officers work irregular hours, overnight shifts, and often log significant overtime. These demanding schedules can lead to fatigue that quietly erodes officer performance and health and impacts public safety. Incidents of fatigued officers falling asleep at the wheel or making critical errors aren’t just hypothetical – they’ve…

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MPD Seeking to Learn Lessons from ALCS Shooting Response

MADISON, Wis. – The Madison Police Department has requested a formal review of its response to the deadly shooting at Abundant Life Christian School. The request comes with the utmost respect for the victims, survivors, their families and all students and staff at ALCS. On Dec. 16, 2024, a student shot and killed a teacher…

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Widely Used or Widely Known? Diffusing Hot Spots Policing

City Map Analysis

In recent decades, police scholars and practitioners have focused on the concentration of crime in specific locations, known as “hot spots.” Among police researchers, Weisburd (2015) has claimed that a “law of crime concentration” should become a key focus of research and inform crime reduction efforts. Many practitioners, in turn, have long sought to put…

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Measuring What Matters: Why Public Confidence Is the New Bottom Line in Policing

Trends charts

Measuring What Matters: Why Public Confidence Is the New Bottom Line in Policing Public agencies do not measure success the same way private companies do. There is no profit margin or stock price that determines whether a law enforcement agency or city government has succeeded. Instead, as Harvard’s Mark Moore argues in Recognizing Public Value (2013),…

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