Civilian question for cops who are shift workers.

[KeithH]

What is the impact on a police officer performance when seriously sleep deprived? I've worked a swing shift for years in a factory and have been on this desperate quest for improved sleep quality. I have tried everything from alcohol to prescription narcotics, prescription sleep aids (all long since abandoned) and then lastly to over the counter stuff like Benadryl. None of it worked. Sleep quality and also work performance began a steady decline. It showed up as slower reaction time, more errors, more serious life threatening errors, numbers and letters coming out backwards on my charting, poor judgment in areas long since mastered, temper, anger, frustration, fires, minor explosions, equipment damage and on and on. I have to double or triple my safe following distance in traffic. Fallen asleep at the wheel countless times. Completely rested and alert none of these are issues. But none of my errors can have the devastating consequences of helping to set a city or a whole country on fire. I might get three days off or I might get fired, might even loose a finger but my family does not have to go into hiding because of my work place mistake.

So how do cops handle shift work and go about getting the proper rest for best performance at work? Are the consequences of shift work and its impact on the body and mind recognized by your employers?

[Totem Polar]

Not LE, but my memory is that this was a big factor in the Amber Guyger/Botham Jean case. She got 10 years for that one, and he’s dead.

[BehindBlueI's]

I think you've nailed the effect of sleep deprivation pretty well. I don't recall the specific number or source any longer, but a surprisingly high number of "iffy" use of force incidents have sleep deprivation as a component.

As policing isn't monolithic, I can only speak for my own department. It's recognized in some regards. There are limits put in place on how much part-time and overtime you can work in a given week, absent an emergency like riots. We do not rotate shifts. Most non-supervisory positions shift bid based on seniority annually. That's your shift for the year, with rare exception.

If you get called into IA, they will ask you about your sleep, health, medications, etc. as part of the interview, along with a general sort of "anything that could affect your judgement" sort of question.

So it's sort of recognized, but also there is the recognition some guys have to work nights.

[cpd2110]

We also track off duty work hours. When I was a patrol Lt, I knew who my workaholics were and watched them closely. I also knew my people well and knew who had sleep issues unrelated to work. I had my Sergeants active on those officers scenes. I did timesheets daily, if I saw too much OT coming across I’d have a talk with the guy/gal. Working 12’s, even day shift 5a-5p, it can be a long day if the night before didn’t go well with sleep. Add more work after shift is a recipe for bad performance, officer complaints, crashes etc. I have sent more than one officer home who clearly was sleep deprived in roll call. I let them get rest and come back later. Only a couple times but it sends a strong message to everyone. There is talk after to get to the root cause.

Having said all that most officers where I work wouldn’t give up 12’s. You are off half the month, short week is 2 days. Which means you can burn two vacation days and be off 7. You longest consecutive days worked is 3. I’ve worked the 6 on 3 off before with 8.5, which is what the road works in Indy. That too seems like a lot of days in a row dealing with their run loads. We are busy but not like they are. It’s a tough topic to get fixed I think, but some agencies are trying.

I also think with the newer generation officers work less OT, there is less hanging out after shift, especially on 12’s. People often do their time and go home.

[Le Français]

I’ve long thought that the “suck it up” attitude many agencies have toward sleep deprivation was and is very problematic. I’ve seen it in local, state, and federal agencies. One state police agency I was familiar with had troopers rotating from day to night shift every two weeks.

We have strict regulations about truck drivers’ hours of service logs, but what about the people who are not only driving at odd hours, but also packing guns, arrest powers, and emergency response duties? If ever there was a group that ought to be well rested...

[Lon]

Here ya go. Good read:

https://www.policechiefmagazine.org/human-fatigue-in-247-operations/

[CWM11B]

https://www.amazon.com/Tired-cops-importance-managing-fatigue/dp/1878734679

Out of print, but a library may have a copy. I've got it, but dont loan out books. Been hosed on a rare copy or two.
Short answer, rotaing shifts and fatigue hit cops the same way as every other human being. Numerous studies have shown sick use goes up, mistakes are made, and productivity goes down. In every field. There's a reason the FAA is pretty strict on crew rest for aviators. I rotated shifts weekly for years. It took 15 years of arguing to get patrol on a permanent shift. Those who opposed the idea were mostly admin weenies with a M-F day job who hid/ran from police work.

[blues]

I’ve long thought that the “suck it up” attitude many agencies have toward sleep deprivation was and is very problematic. I’ve seen it in local, state, and federal agencies. One state police agency I was familiar with had troopers rotating from day to night shift every two weeks.

We have strict regulations about truck drivers’ hours of service logs, but what about the people who are not only driving at odd hours, but also packing guns, arrest powers, and emergency response duties? If ever there was a group that ought to be well rested...

Leaving aside the judgment and enforcement side of the equation...I can't count how many times driving home after a long day and night (or more) on a narcotics case, followed by the processing of prisoners and evidence, that I could barely keep my car in the lane I was driving home in and felt impaired. Then having to be in court a couple of hours later for initial appearance.

It's a recipe for disaster.

[Flamingo]

Our training section told us that we were doomed to cancer and other health ailments due to our shifts. It didn't make any changes though.

[Nephrology]

Not a cop but tons of experience working with little to no sleep in other settings.

Shift work sleep disorder is a real thing. It may be worth seeing your physician about this as there are a couple options you have to help improve the quality of the sleep you are able to get, but at least in my personal experience, no matter how hard I try I always sleep like total fucking garbage when I am on nights. Daylight is like kryptonite to my REM cycle. Blackout curtains help, but not as much as I'd like.

One thing I would be very, very careful about is operating motor vehicles. Sleep deprivation can be just as impairing as alcohol intoxication.

Beyond that here are the cliffnotes from the uptodate article on shift work sleep disorder. Covers the bases pretty well. My personal opinion is that they exaggerate the risk of cancer and heart disease associated with shift work sleep disorder, which I would attribute as secondary consequences of how shift work ruins your diet and destroys your motivation to stay active (in my personal experience anyway). Do what you can to address that, but I understand it's an uphill battle, so set your expectations accordingly.


●Individuals who work night shifts commonly experience difficulties with both sleep and alertness at desired times, and shift work is increasingly recognized as a risk factor for a variety of adverse health outcomes, including diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. (See 'Introduction' above.)

●While some shift workers show circadian adjustment to their work schedule, most do not. Up to one-third of shift workers report regular, persistent complaints of insomnia and/or excessive sleepiness that meet formal criteria for shift work disorder (SWD). (See 'Diagnostic criteria' above.)

●Shift workers generally have severely reduced total sleep time over a 24-hour period compared with non-shift workers, and they commonly report difficulty with sleep initiation and maintenance. Disturbances during wakefulness include excessive sleepiness, impaired cognitive function, decreased psychomotor functioning, and altered social and emotional functioning, leading to an increased risk for accidents. (See 'Clinical spectrum' above.)

●The evaluation of shift workers who complain of sleep or wake disturbances includes a comprehensive sleep history, risk assessment, and objective assessment of sleep-wake patterns. Sleep logs and actigraphy are the primary tools used to objectively determine sleep-wake patterns over an extended period (ideally two weeks). (See 'Evaluation and diagnosis' above.)

●Minimum measures to improve sleep after a night shift include a regular sleep schedule (ie, anchor sleep), light-blocking shades, and ambient noise control. If family or social responsibilities prohibit one seven- to nine-hour sleep period, a regularized three- to four-hour morning "anchor" sleep with a second variably timed sleep period is recommended. (See 'Sleep scheduling' above and 'Improving daytime sleep' above.)

●Pharmacological interventions for sleep include short-acting benzodiazepine receptor agonists and melatonin. The newer orexin receptor antagonists may also be considered. Risks of carry-over sedation should be discussed and monitored when any hypnotic is used. Importantly, optimizing daytime sleep does not eliminate sleepiness during the night shift, and additional measures are needed to mitigate the risk for accidents, particularly in patients with circadian misalignment. (See 'Hypnotics' above and 'Exogenous melatonin' above.)

●Behavioral strategies to improve sleep in shift workers include sleep scheduling (including naps) and cognitive behavioral therapy. (See 'Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia' above.)

●Naps (less than one hour) before and during the night shift can improve alertness; caffeine intake during the shift can also help. (See 'Naps' above and 'Caffeine' above.)

●For individuals with excessive sleepiness during night shifts who desire pharmacotherapy, we suggest armodafinil or modafinil (Grade 2B). The observed benefits in randomized trials have been modest, however, and side effects may outweigh benefits in some patients. (See 'Wake-promoting agents' above.)

●Shift workers are at greatest risk of accidents during night and early morning shifts when circadian alertness is minimal. These and other safety issues should be reviewed with patients regularly. (See 'Safety issues' above.)

One more point: antihistamines like Benadryl and Unisom will actively suppress your REM sleep and thus reduce its overall quality. I would save those drugs for when you have absolutely no other choice. A better OTC option are melatonin supplements. I swear by these (https://www.amazon.com/Vitafusion-Extra-Strength-Melatonin-Vitamins/dp/B00OJMZSWU/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=melatonin+gummies&qid=1618574454&rdc=1&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFEV1QxMTMzNzlLWEUmZ W5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA2NzcxNTcxQUI2VFBBNTdKUFMwJmVuY3J 5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAxODU0NDcxRTIyMEFSVDcwRVRHJndpZGdld E5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm9 0TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==). I don't know why the gummies work so well vs. tablets but thats been my experience.

Keep in mind you dont really need that much melatonin, either - iirc a physiological dose would be around 0.5mg. Not sure why companies sell them in such whopper doses. I like the kid's formulation (https://www.amazon.com/Vitafusion-Melatonin-Gummy-Vitamins-count/dp/B0857XCFG5/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=melatonin+gummies+vitafusion&qid=1618574542&sr=8-8) for that reason. You can just cut the gummy in half and you'll get pretty close to an optimal dose. There isn't a lot of advantage to taking more than that unless you want some really funky dreams and a bit of a 'hangover" in the AM.

[olstyn]

I've worked a swing shift for years in a factory and have been on this desperate quest for improved sleep quality.

Not a cop, but I did a 10 PM - 8:30 AM shift 4 days/week for ~8 years. The biggest thing that helped me with sleep was blackout curtains in my bedroom. It helped me with tricking my body into thinking it was time to sleep even though I had just driven home in bright sunlight.

[octagon]

I did 17 years midnights patrol with the last 5 years 12 hour shifts instead of 8 hour shifts. I never had a problem with 8hrs but the 12's were much harder. I didn't have kids to deal with and for a number of years lived alone as my wife worked out of state for the school year so even less obligations. That said I used caffeine from coffee and soda plus large Monster energy drink to stay alert and awake every shift. Benadryl and good sleep hygiene practices for rest. I used room darkening shades but also cut paneling to the exact size of the bedroom windows so no light came it. Shades make it darkish but the panels make it as dark as night. A fan or A/C for breeze and white noise to drown out daily activities like grass cutting,traffic,kids playing etc. Keeping the temps cool and a ritual of going to sleep and waking up the same times every day helped.

Regardless of how much I liked the work and it worked OK for me I had health issues like high BP,gall stones,kidney stones that probably were exacerbated by the diet and shift. If not they were likely not helped. After retiring I lost 67 lbs, got off all medications and have had no health issues. I also am off all caffeine except an occasional diet cola.

[KeithH]

Here ya go. Good read:

https://www.policechiefmagazine.org/human-fatigue-in-247-operations/

My sons a fixed wing aviator for the Coast Guard and they have some pretty strict rules on flight time limits and mandatory recovery time when limits are reached. Looks like cops and the rest of us have no such protection. My employer expects world class performance from exhausted and compromised employees and refuses to listen to modern research on the impact shift work has on cognitive functioning. They continue to emphasize that we need to get more rest and that we aren’t trying hard enough.

Thanks for the read.

[Trooper224]

I worked midnights for the last twelve years of my career. I did it because of the people I worked with and I considered the day schedule even worse.

Unfortunately, there really isn't anything you can do to totally compensate because you're working when you should be sleeping, there's no way around that. I would typically get off shift at 0700am and would try to get to sleep immediately thereafter. I never had a problem with ambient light. I put a shade up on the bedroom window so the sun wouldn't shine directly in, but I never required total darkness. But, no matter how much sleep I got I always felt tired. I didn't fully comprehend the extent of that until I retired and started to live like a normal human being. It then became apparent I'd been walking around fatigued for the last decade. Unfortunately, there's really no way to compensate that I know of.

[Nephrology]

Unfortunately, there's really no way to compensate that I know of.

There's always modafinil...

[Jeff22]

Rotating shifts (days to evenings to nights or the reverse) will take years off your life. You’re always walking around like a zombie.

I know people who have been day/evening or evening/night relief and liked it.

This is a guess, but I bet about 20% of the population are natural night owls.

I was on straight midnights (by choice) from August of 1977 to May of 2011 (except for one year) and in retirement I generally only work evening or night shifts.

Some people just cannot make the adjustment to working over nights.

[CWM11B]

Ive read a coiple of studies which found at about 17 hours awake, cognitive and motor skills were on par with a .10 BAC. I believe it

[Jim Watson]

As an R&D engineer, I did not have to do rotating shifts very often but when we had an extended project, it got old very fast.

I knew one guy who volunteered to work straight midnights, he acclimated and was much more comfortable.
Another friend accrued enough seniority to pick straight evening shift and was really well off.

[Lon]

My sons a fixed wing aviator for the Coast Guard and they have some pretty strict rules on flight time limits and mandatory recovery time when limits are reached. Looks like cops and the rest of us have no such protection. My employer expects world class performance from exhausted and compromised employees and refuses to listen to modern research on the impact shift work has on cognitive functioning. They continue to emphasize that we need to get more rest and that we aren’t trying hard enough.

Thanks for the read.

Yep. I get it. My dad was a airline pilot for 34 years and I grew up hearing about how many hours he could log, etc. i’m actually surprised this is not become more of a issue with some of the controversial uses of force.

[Coyotesfan97]

Rotating shifts (days to evenings to nights or the reverse) will take years off your life. You’re always walking around like a zombie.

I know people who have been day/evening or evening/night relief and liked it.

This is a guess, but I bet about 20% of the population are natural night owls.

I was on straight midnights (by choice) from August of 1977 to May of 2011 (except for one year) and in retirement I generally only work evening or night shifts.

Some people just cannot make the adjustment to working over nights.

I’m a night owl. When we first got bid I worked graves for three years straight. I worked 1900-0400 for 16-17 years in K9. I loved that shift. I never worked day shift patrol.

I generally slept well. Every now and then your body says no and you’re awake. I usually stayed up two hours when I got home then went to bed. I closed the blinds and had an eyeshade. White noise helps too.

[Jeff22]

I like it really cool when I sleep. In the winter I set the thermostat at 62.

In the summer my air conditioning bill is high . . .

[RJflyer]

My sons a fixed wing aviator for the Coast Guard and they have some pretty strict rules on flight time limits and mandatory recovery time when limits are reached. Looks like cops and the rest of us have no such protection.

I was an aircrew member in the USAF before getting out and becoming a cop. "Crew rest" was considered sacred in the flying community and if a guy had something come up that prevented him from getting the required sleep/rest, he was required by regulation to self-identify and be scratched from the flight without any adverse action from unit leadership. Max flight hour limits per day/month were also set in stone and could only be waived by a higher authority on case-by-case basis. I only saw those waived a few times, and each of those were justified by a need for direct support to combat ops overseas. Granted that was just my personal experience in the units I served/flew in. The cultures in other units could have been different.

Transition to my first year working graveyards as a patrol officer...it couldn't have been a bigger departure from my time in the military. It was standard for officers to work a full 10-hour dayshift and then stay behind for another 4-8 hours to help cover swing shift. It was also standard for graveyard shift officers to wake up in the middle of their "night" to attend court or some in-service training, and then quick-turn into their own shift without adequate sleep. Our leadership understood it was a risk, but the manpower shortage is real. And most cops would rather bank overtime than admit they need to go home and sleep.

I was able to make it work as a younger guy without kids and a lot of caffeine. I don't know how some of the other guys i worked with were able to do it day-in, day-out for 20+ years.

[Nephrology]

I was an aircrew member in the USAF before getting out and becoming a cop. "Crew rest" was considered sacred in the flying community and if a guy had something come up that prevented him from getting the required sleep/rest, he was required by regulation to self-identify and be scratched from the flight without any adverse action from unit leadership. Max flight hour limits per day/month were also set in stone and could only be waived by a higher authority on case-by-case basis. I only saw those waived a few times, and each of those were justified by a need for direct support to combat ops overseas. Granted that was just my personal experience in the units I served/flew in. The cultures in other units could have been different.

Transition to my first year working graveyards as a patrol officer...it couldn't have been a bigger departure from my time in the military. It was standard for officers to work a full 10-hour dayshift and then stay behind for another 4-8 hours to help cover swing shift. It was also standard for graveyard shift officers to wake up in the middle of their "night" to attend court or some in-service training, and then quick-turn into their own shift without adequate sleep. Our leadership understood it was a risk, but the manpower shortage is real. And most cops would rather bank overtime than admit they need to go home and sleep.

I was able to make it work as a younger guy without kids and a lot of caffeine. I don't know how some of the other guys i worked with were able to do it day-in, day-out for 20+ years.

When I was on transplant with anesthesa the surgery attending’s wife went into labor. He said whatever, it’ll be a few hours before she delivers. He had been awake for like 36 hours at that point. He Does a liver transplant and barely makes it to the delivery. As soon as his kid is born, he immediately leaves and does a kidney.

That's when I finally buried any residual fantasies of going into surgery

edit: to be clear if it sounds like I am glorifying this I am not. It's incredibly dangerous and obviously self destructive. but it is what it is I guess.

[Rex G]

I know that I made some truly bone-headed mistakes, when working mostly night shift patrol for 33+ years. OT shifts, court attendance, and general life events, during the daytime, sometimes meant 30+ hours at a time, without sleep. The scary thing is that many of those mistakes were not apparent, at the time.

I believe that some of the glaring errors seen on publicly-released dashcam and bodycam videos may be fatigue-induced. When fatigued, IQ drops, reaction time increases, fine motor skills decrease, and training can go out the window.

The extra hours worked during and after Hurricane Ike, in 2008, when I was aged 46 and 47, aged me in ways that permanently altered my life. I went from being seen as a thirty-something, athletic, and young-for-my age, to a stooped, middle-aged man, sometimes mistaken for being ten years older than my chronological age. My 75-year-old father had more get up and go, than I did. I remember that it took eight months before I felt energetic, again, and in some ways never returned to pre-Ike wellness and fitness.

The extra hours during and after Hurricane Harvey, in 2017, when I was 55 and 56, aged me again, from middle-aged, to a stooped old man. I had hoped to keep working, perhaps even staying in patrol, until I had 35 years of service, which would have been November 2018, and maybe even driven for 35 years of sworn service, in March 2019, but, instead, I retired in January 2018. It took 2+ years to feel anything like energetic, again, and, not nearly at the pre-Harvey level.

[Robert Mitchum]

I was forced too work double shifts at a City Jail for Months back in 1987.

The place was a Zoo ..Worked 2nd and third shit and had to show the next day for roll call.
Having had a bad temper to start with I was a nasty SOB after 2 weeks.

Got into a few road rage incidents out of work.
At work I threw a few Inmates into walls and broke a fellow Staff members leg who was going to slow responding too an officer in trouble code.
I pushed him out of my way and he went flying.

Before you judge my actions go work at a shit hole City Jail and work double shifts for 2 Months and get ordered in on your days off.
That was worse than being held over for a week during a riot years later at a Prison I was working.

[MickAK]

There's always modafinil...

I've used modafinil sparingly for about 5 years now. It's great stuff, especially when you don't know when you're going to be able to catch a nap, you can sleep on modafinil much easier than caffeine. In my experience it's best when you can predict when the sleep deprivation is going to occur and slowly ramp up dosage beforehand. It works fine if you just have to pop it but it makes me feel a little odd. I think it's a good thing to have in an emergency kit if you can get it, emergencies often involve sleep deprivation.

For run of the mill sleep deprivation the best thing I've found is pre-workout, generally about an 1/8th of scoop to 16 oz of water. That has the benefit of allowing you to dose according to need as opposed to coffee or energy drinks where you just get what you get. Some pre-workouts contain Himalayan pink salt and you want to stay away from that unless you want to explain why the bathroom smells like that.

Sleep deprivation and managing it doesn't get near the attention it should from preppers.

[Nephrology]

I've used modafinil sparingly for about 5 years now. It's great stuff, especially when you don't know when you're going to be able to catch a nap, you can sleep on modafinil much easier than caffeine. In my experience it's best when you can predict when the sleep deprivation is going to occur and slowly ramp up dosage beforehand. It works fine if you just have to pop it but it makes me feel a little odd. I think it's a good thing to have in an emergency kit if you can get it, emergencies often involve sleep deprivation.

For run of the mill sleep deprivation the best thing I've found is pre-workout, generally about an 1/8th of scoop to 16 oz of water. That has the benefit of allowing you to dose according to need as opposed to coffee or energy drinks where you just get what you get. Some pre-workouts contain Himalayan pink salt and you want to stay away from that unless you want to explain why the bathroom smells like that.

Sleep deprivation and managing it doesn't get near the attention it should from preppers.

Agreed. It’s good to be judicious with drugs like modafinil, but when you need them, you really need them.... and they do really work.

[KeithH]

Agreed. It’s good to be judicious with drugs like modafinil, but when you need them, you really need them.... and they do really work.

I tried it for a couple of years and could not get it to work for me. Although I was taking it almost everyday. I might have even qualified as an abuser. I remember it was supposed to be the silver bullet for fatigued air force pilots in combat. Never saw if the airlines approved it.

[Torsius]

I worked nights for most of my 11 years in patrol. I never adjusted. I read a study-Tired Cops?-in which cops were given an eye tracking test used to assess fatigue in miners. Many failed, but they went into service to make life-and-death decisions at a level of fatigue deemed unsafe for coal miners. That’s how I lived.

[john c]

The biggest issue I see is that night shift guys flip their schedules around on their days off. So work until 7 AM M-T-W-Th, and then be up in the daytime F-S-Su. These guys are zombies on F and M, if not the rest of the week.

I'm a natural midnighter. Optimally, I get to bed at 5 AM and sleep until 1 PM. However, I day sleep even on my days off, which is why I'm happy about it. It has impacted my career, since I miss dayshift opportunities.

For the OP, get another job. Seriously. It's not worth the aggravation and shortened lifespan to fight your nature. I'm lucky I can (mostly) choose a work schedule that fits my nature.

[Jeff22]

Some people can easily adjust to nights. Most people cannot. I’m a natural nightfighter, and always have been. I estimate that 15-20% of the population are natural "night people"

I have worked 11-7 by choice since August of 1977.

I'm single so I don't have to worry about kids or a wife waking me up in the middle of the day. The phone with the answering machine is in the living room.

I have thick blackout curtains on the windows of my bedroom. And a ceiling fan to provide white noise. I sleep best in a cold environment, so I keep the A/C turned on in the summer and the heat turned down low in the winter.

I usually go to sleep between 8 and 9 in the morning and get up about 5 in the afternoon.

I like the midnight shift because it leaves my evenings free, and I can do whatever I want before work, as long as it doesn't involve consuming alcohol. (The indoor range at the gun club I belong to is available until 9 o’clock now which is wonderful)

As far as caffeine goes, I try to fire up about two hours before shift, or have a big cup of coffee in briefing, and then try to avoid any heavy caffeine the rest of the shift. No caffeine the last 4 or 5 hours of the tour unless I'm desperate.

I usually drink tea at home, coffee in the PD and iced green tea on the road.

Sometimes I take half a generic Tylenol PM before sleeping. It usually works pretty well but not always.

I have experimented with melatonin at different doses at different times over the years but it didn't seem to have any particular effect for me.

Most noise doesn't bother me when sleeping. The neighbor kids can play right under my bedroom window and I sleep right through it. Same with lawnmowers or snow plows.

I used to have problem staying asleep in the summer when the sun is really bright -- I would wake up at about 1pm and have difficulty getting back to sleep. That isn’t as much of a problem since I moved into Dad’s old house because he had worked nights for years and had blackout curtains in the bedroom. That room stays DARK.

On my first day off, I usually go to bed about 9am and then wake up by 2pm. I can then (usually) go back to sleep again about midnight. (My understanding is, if you stay up too much after 11pm your body thinks you’re going to be awake all night and releases cortisol to keep you awake)

Often if I go to bed early (9pm or so) I wake up again about 3:30 and then can’t get back to sleep until 8 or 9 in the morning. Which sucks if the plan of the day involves working a day shift (which I try to avoid) or attending a class or a pistol match or a training event, because I tend to start getting fogged in about noon.

On my first day back I don't have any fixed routine -- I have tried but found nothing that worked particularly well other than a short nap in late afternoon before going to work.

My dad worked the midnight shift as a mechanical supervisor for many years. He is NOT a natural “night person” but he was very disciplined in his sleep pattern and he made it work for about 25 years. On his first day off (Friday), he’d go to bed at 8am and get up shortly after noon and then be up and able to sleep at night for the next few nights. On his first day back (Sunday) he’d get up about 5am and be up until about 2pm, and then he’d go to sleep until about 6pm and then wake up and have dinner and then go in to work at 10. That worked for him for a long time.

I know lots of guys who stay up all day on their first day off (like go 24+ hours awake) I have almost never done that unless I had training or OT or court or something during the day that precluded my going to sleep.

I can still go in at 3pm and work a double shift pretty well (although now I try to avoid it) but now that I'm 60+ I can't work all night and then work all day anymore. At least not usually.

One thing I have learned is that I ABSOLUTELY SHOULD NOT eat after work before going to sleep.

I put on weight if I even THINK about doing that. And now that I'm old, I get heartburn if I eat and then try to sleep.

I usually have a protein shake when I get home, and then go to sleep.

For me, having the room really dark isn't essential. It just has to be shadowy. Temperature seems to be a bigger factor. But, the darker the better.

But everybody has different experiences, and people’s preferences will probably change over time

Some people can easily adjust to nights. Most people cannot. Whether or not you can adjust to working nights is something that people should think through when considering law enforcement or any other career that operates on a 24/7 schedule.

I always thought that was something that should be considered during the selection process for any job involving non-traditional hours – has the applicant ever worked a job where they worked evenings or nights, and weekends and holidays?

[Jim Watson]

I doubt it has wide application but just another station heard from...
My Dad was a city bus driver. A bus route ("run" in driver terminology") is highly unlikely to come out to a whole number of trips across town in a fixed time, it was just chance if one was right at 8 hours. So the contract guaranteed 8 hours pay, even if you had a 7:50 run. But if you had a longer run, you got paid for it and most drivers used their seniority to maximize their day.
And a run could start any time, there were not many 24 hour a day routes.

So my Dad would typically pick an early start, leaving the house about 4:30. This let him complete his normal run and then sign up on the "extra board" for a school bus route for extra work and pay. He also signed up for "specials" for charters and other irregular runs. He saw the first three quarters of a lot of high school football games. He would drive team or fans to the stadium, get in free to watch three quarters but then have to go out and warm up and spot the bus for the return trip.

[Gadfly]

LOTS of good info here.

When I started in LE, my office was still unionized. For some ungodly stupid reason, the union had us rotate shifts every pay period (two weeks). So i did 6a-2p for two weeks, the 2p-10p for two weeks, then 10p-6a for two weeks. IT WAS HELL. It takes at least a week to kind of get adjusted to the new schedule, then a few days later... BOOM, you have to adjust again. My body went down hill, I began to put on weight, I was not working out... Finally, my co workers went to our supervisor to ask for longer periods between rotation. She said the union made her rotate us.... BUT, she only needed someone on shift, and did not care who it was. She kept the official schedule as two weeks, but my co workers and I went to quarterly rotation. MUCH easier on the body and on the family life. That was my first 5 years on.

As far as day sleep, blackout curtains were a must have. Cold AC and a loud fan too. The problems came from outside the house. Garbage trucks, Lawn Crews (I wanted to shoot some leaf blower packs), loud motorcycles, people ringing the doorbell because they left a package, the damn phone ringing at least 4 times a day.... sleeping in the day was hard to get a full 8 hours.

Now, i have not done shift work for well over 15 years, BUT, in FED LE, once you get sent out on a call, you typically stay out until its all done. 24 hour shifts are not at all uncommon. I went close to 36 one time, and knew I should not be driving home. From Houston to the border is about 6 hours. We would drive to the border, meet with crooks for a couple hours, and track a load of dope or aliens back to Houston, then make an arrest... so we were 14 hours into a shift before the real paperwork started.

how is the sleep schedule these days? Last week, we had a load of 97 aliens in a stash house... I was on scene. Came into work around 9a, was at the stash house by 11a, stayed on scene until about 8p when the bodies were moved to our detention center. Got to our jail around 9p to start processing the aliens. Went home around 6a, power napped, and was back in the jail by 11a, and got home again around 10p... That one load took us 3 days to process, not counting doing evidence, and the initial court appearances.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/smuggling-houston-5-charged/

I have TDYed to FLETC twice now. Stable schedule of 7-4:30 every day. Weekends off. No call outs. Access to the gym at work... I always lose weight, my blood pressure and cholesterol go down... I am happier and healthier in general. Looking forward to this retirement thing and feeling normal.

[Coyotesfan97]

Some people can easily adjust to nights. Most people cannot. I’m a natural nightfighter, and always have been. I estimate that 15-20% of the population are natural "night people"

I have worked 11-7 by choice since August of 1977.

I'm single so I don't have to worry about kids or a wife waking me up in the middle of the day. The phone with the answering machine is in the living room.

I have thick blackout curtains on the windows of my bedroom. And a ceiling fan to provide white noise. I sleep best in a cold environment, so I keep the A/C turned on in the summer and the heat turned down low in the winter.

I usually go to sleep between 8 and 9 in the morning and get up about 5 in the afternoon.

I like the midnight shift because it leaves my evenings free, and I can do whatever I want before work, as long as it doesn't involve consuming alcohol. (The indoor range at the gun club I belong to is available until 9 o’clock now which is wonderful)

As far as caffeine goes, I try to fire up about two hours before shift, or have a big cup of coffee in briefing, and then try to avoid any heavy caffeine the rest of the shift. No caffeine the last 4 or 5 hours of the tour unless I'm desperate.

I usually drink tea at home, coffee in the PD and iced green tea on the road.

Sometimes I take half a generic Tylenol PM before sleeping. It usually works pretty well but not always.

I have experimented with melatonin at different doses at different times over the years but it didn't seem to have any particular effect for me.

Most noise doesn't bother me when sleeping. The neighbor kids can play right under my bedroom window and I sleep right through it. Same with lawnmowers or snow plows.

I used to have problem staying asleep in the summer when the sun is really bright -- I would wake up at about 1pm and have difficulty getting back to sleep. That isn’t as much of a problem since I moved into Dad’s old house because he had worked nights for years and had blackout curtains in the bedroom. That room stays DARK.

On my first day off, I usually go to bed about 9am and then wake up by 2pm. I can then (usually) go back to sleep again about midnight. (My understanding is, if you stay up too much after 11pm your body thinks you’re going to be awake all night and releases cortisol to keep you awake)

Often if I go to bed early (9pm or so) I wake up again about 3:30 and then can’t get back to sleep until 8 or 9 in the morning. Which sucks if the plan of the day involves working a day shift (which I try to avoid) or attending a class or a pistol match or a training event, because I tend to start getting fogged in about noon.

On my first day back I don't have any fixed routine -- I have tried but found nothing that worked particularly well other than a short nap in late afternoon before going to work.


There’s some differences but Jeff describes how I worked Graves and adjusted to the sleep pattern. We worked 2200-0800 but I always felt I had time to do stuff before going into work. Our late swings patrol shift was 1600-0200. I always felt like I never had time to get things done working it.