InFocus

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 been documented for decades (Vila and Kenney, 2002).

Unlike airline pilots or truck drivers, police typically have no strict work-hour regulations, and many officers patch together long shifts, court appearances, and even secondary jobs. The result is a workforce that too often runs on coffee and determination while battling chronic fatigue. Recognizing and managing this fatigue is critical for police leaders committed to both officer wellness and effective service.

What We Know About Shift Schedules and Fatigue

Long shifts and extensive overtime can quickly degrade an officer’s alertness and decision-making ability. Policing inherently requires split-second judgments and emotional restraint; fatigue undermines these capacities. Laboratory simulations confirm that tired officers are more likely to use force or escalate encounters and less likely to employ de-escalation tactics, compared to when they’re well-rested (James, et. al., 2017).

Human fatigue science shows that being awake for 17 hours impairs performance equivalent to a blood alcohol level of 0.05%, and 24 hours awake is comparable to a 0.10% BAC – well beyond legal intoxication (Weerd, 2021). Pushing officers to 16+ hour days, as sometimes happens in back-to-back shifts or emergency holdovers, is widely considered unsafe. Sleep researchers warn that such extreme hours contribute to poor decision-making, higher risk of on-duty vehicle crashes, and a weakened ability to de-escalate volatile encounters (Perez, 2018).

In one high-profile analysis, the El Paso Police Department found that over a five-year span, their top overtime earners frequently logged 16-hour days – in fact, one officer worked a 16-hour shift at least 68 times in that period (Perez, 2018). Some of those same officers were involved in on-duty accidents or performance issues linked to fatigue; one officer was even accused of falling asleep at 2:30am at an overtime traffic detail where a fatal crash occurred (Perez, 2018).

At the organizational level, fatigued officers create safety risks for the community and liability risks for agencies. Tragic anecdotes abound: officers falling asleep at the wheel and crashing during patrol or en route to calls (Vila and Kenney, 2002), or making mistakes in critical incidents after working marathon shifts. Research into police accidents and citizen complaints, while still evolving, suggests that fatigue is often an unseen contributor (Vila and Kenney, 2002). A fatigued officer is more likely to miss a radio call, misjudge a threat, or be involved in a collision.

Health and Wellness Impacts

Likewise, decades of research have drawn direct links between shift work and a host of health problems among law enforcement personnel. Irregular and overnight schedules disrupt circadian rhythms, leading to chronic sleep deprivation. Night shifts, heavy overtime, and erratic schedules in policing are linked to higher rates of burnout, anxiety, and stress-related disorders (CDC/NIOSH, 2021).

One landmark study associated shiftwork with increased risks of heart disease, weight gain, diabetes, and depression among officers (Shockney, et. al., 2022). Officers working permanent night shifts were found to have significantly higher markers of cardiovascular inflammation and reported more symptoms of depression than day-shift officers (Shockney, et. al., 2022).

Fatigue also raises the risk of on-the-job injuries: one analysis found officers on night duty had two times the rate of long-term injury leave (90+ days) as officers on afternoon shifts, and three times the rate of those on day shifts (Shockney, et. al., 2022).

In short, the combination of long hours and disrupted sleep doesn’t just make officers tired – it makes them more susceptible to illness, injury, and mental health struggles. These personal health effects have organizational costs, including increased sick leave and workers’ compensation claims, as well as early retirements.

How NPI Is Addressing Open Questions in the Research 

Pioneering research by the National Policing Institute comparing 8-, 10-, and 12-hour shifts in two police departments found clear advantages to the 10-hour schedule (Amendola, et. al., 2012). Officers working four 10-hour days (with three days off) averaged significantly more sleep per week and reported better work-life balance and higher job satisfaction than those on traditional 8-hour shifts (Amendola, et. al., 2012). More days off also mean officers have greater opportunity to recover sleep debt. In the shift experiment, officers on 10-hour duty gained an average of nearly 185 hours of additional sleep per year compared to 8-hour officers – a striking difference with implications for long-term health (Amendola et. al., 2011).

The 10-hour teams also accrued far less overtime: about 80% less than the 8-hour teams, translating to potential cost savings for departments (Amendola, et. al., 2012). With 10-hour shifts, there’s built-in overlap in staffing that can reduce holdover overtime, and agencies find that moving to 10-hour days can substantially curb the unplanned overtime that occurs when officers must stay late to finish calls or paperwork (Weerd, 2021). Shorter shifts often require more frequent changeovers and extra coverage during peak periods, whereas a 10-hour plan aligns resources better with demand. 

One study noted that officers on 8-hour shifts averaged 3 times more overtime than those on 10-hour shifts, and 5 times more than those on 12-hour shifts (Amendola, et al., 2011). While 12-hour shifts provided an extra day off in the cycle, officers on 12-hour tours reported greater fatigue and lower alertness on duty (Amendola, et. al., 2012).

What Agencies Can Do Now

So, given what we know, what steps can law enforcement agencies and policymakers take to manage fatigue and optimize scheduling? Research points to several best practices:

Adopt Balanced Shift Schedules: Consider 10-hour shifts (4 on, 3 off) as a strong option for patrol and other units. If 12-hour shifts are used, implement them cautiously – ensure they’re strictly voluntary and monitor officers for signs of fatigue (e.g., errors, accidents) (Weerd, 2021).

Avoid Quick Shift Rotations: And if they’re necessary, use forward rotation (day → evening → night), which is better tolerated than backward swaps (Weerd, 2021).

Limit Excessive Work Hours: Implement policies that set maximum daily and weekly hours an officer may work. For example, many experts recommend no more than 12 hours per day and 60 hours per week as an upper limit before health risks sharply increase (Weerd, 2021). Require a minimum rest period between shifts (e.g., 8–10 hours off) and include off-duty employment in these limits (Weerd, 2021). It’s counterproductive to cap overtime, but then allow officers to work 30 hours a week extra at a side job.

Manage Overtime Proactively: Use data to identify why and when overtime is occurring. If staffing shortages are driving routine overtime, consider hiring relief officers or adjusting shift overlaps rather than simply paying endless OT. When overtime is necessary, try to keep it voluntary and evenly distributed to avoid overworking a subset of officers.

Educate and Train Officers: Incorporate fatigue awareness and sleep hygiene training into academy and in-service curricula. Officers should learn about the health impacts of shift work (many are shocked to learn it’s linked to heart disease and cancer) and be taught strategies to improve their sleep quality. Simple practices like maintaining a consistent sleep schedule on days off, using darkening curtains, avoiding caffeine late in the shift, and understanding how to recover from night shifts can make a difference.

Cultivate a Wellness Culture: Leadership must actively work to remove the stigma around fatigue. Chiefs and sheriffs should openly acknowledge that being tired can impair performance just as surely as alcohol or drugs. It’s a condition to be managed, not a personal flaw. Encourage officers to speak up if they’re over-tired or need a break, and ensure there are no punitive consequences for doing so. (Some departments have created confidential self-reporting systems or fatigue hotlines for officers to call off when not fit for duty.)

Leverage Technology and Data: Explore tools like electronic scheduling software that can flag when an officer is about to exceed safe work limits (Weerd, 2021). These systems help track hours, evenly assign shifts, and prevent burnout in complex 24/7 operations. Consider partnering with researchers to use wearables or alertness tests (e.g., smartphone-based reaction time tests) to objectively measure fatigue levels. Data from such tools can identify trends.

Address Staffing and Resources: Ultimately, no scheduling tweak can fully overcome understaffing. If a department is perpetually short-handed, remaining officers will face unavoidable overtime and stress. Agency leaders should quantify the cost of fatigue (in overtime dollars, accidents, and low productivity) and use that to make the case for right-sizing their workforce. 

The Bottom Line

Fatigue in policing is a critical safety issue that warrants the same attention as tactical training or body armor. Research and experience all show that how we schedule officers is directly tied to their safety, decision-making, and health. By embracing 10-hour shifts, limiting excessive hours, and fostering a culture that values rest as part of readiness, law enforcement agencies can significantly reduce fatigue-related risks.

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer – each agency must balance community needs with officer wellness – but the guiding principle is universal: a rested cop is a safer, more effective cop. Investing in smarter shift management and fatigue prevention is an investment in better policing. Adopting the best practices outlined above will help protect those who protect us, ensuring that our officers stay healthy, alert, and ready to serve at their best.

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References

Amendola, Karen L.; Weisburd, David; Hamilton, Erin E.; Jones, Greg J.; Slipka, Michael. “The Shift Length Experiment: What We Know About 8-, 10-, and 12-Hour Shifts in Policing.” National Policing Institute, 2012.

Amendola, Karen L.; Weisburd, David; Hamilton, Erin E. “The Impact of Shift Length in Policing on Performance, Health, Quality of Life, Sleep, Fatigue, and Extra-Duty Employment.” National Policing Institute Research Brief, 2011.

James, Lois, et. al. “The impact of work shift and fatigue on police officer response in simulated interactions with citizens.” Journal of Experimental Criminology, 2017.

Perez, Elida S. “Officers shouldn’t work more than 12-hour shifts. El Paso’s are putting in 16 hours regularly.” Salon, 2018.

Shockney, Taylor M., et. al. “Shiftwork May Lead to Health Problems among Police Officers: What Can be Done? Using Buffalo Cardio-Metabolic Occupational Police Stress (BCOPS) Study Data to Examine First Responder Health.” National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 2022.

Vila, Bryan; Kenney, Dennis J. “Tired Cops: The Prevalence and Potential Consequences of Police Fatigue.” National Institute of Justice Journal (NIJ), U.S. Department of Justice, 2002.

Weerd, Ron Vande. “Trying times for law enforcement may call for alternate work schedules.” Police1, 2021.