i work a neighboring/surrounding agency to OP. We are on 4-10 Hr workday schedule, with set off days. I love it.
At my last agency it was 5 days, with 8 hours and 2 mandatory to claim OT hours a day (don't ask about that shady shit). Combined with the hour long commute to and from my duty station it was not uncommon for supervisors to tell agents to take a "mental health" day.
Put in a good word for me if I have to come over for the next five.Originally Posted by babypanther
I used to be on one of y'all's training videos......"The Blue Knight".....if that nickname is still going strong over there.
Hopefully that will count for a resume. lol
Four tens, if they don't change the night - day schedule very often, is pretty much my idea of Heaven at work.
Of course the only time I ever worked a ten hour day, it was 13/14, contract said we had to get a day off every pay period.
Code Name: JET STREAM
I got to work several different patrol shift plans in my career. For almost all my career, shift rotations were 6 months and you could remain on the same shift for 2 rotations or 1 year before being forced to rotate. I started off with 8 hour shifts, 0800-1600, 1600-2400 and 0000-0800.
We later went to a "9 plan" which was my favorite. In that schedule, you worked 9 days in a 2 week pay period. Eight were 9 hour days and one was 8 hours, with the 8 hour day usually the last one in a pay period. You had 2 days off one weekend and 3 days off the next. This was combined with a half hour briefing and a half hour debrief period at end of shift that was usually used to complete paperwork. Every other weekend was a 3 day weekend.
Never had a 4-10 shift in patrol, but that was the standard for all our investigative and administrative assignments.
The last shift I worked in patrol had was 12.5 hours, 3 days per week. Shifts started at 0600 and 1800 hours. Worked 3 days per week and off 4 days, with the whole patrol team having the same days off so you worked with the same people every day. Scheduled time was 75 hours per pay period, so you either had to work 5 additional hours (not too hard with court time) or use benefit time to make it up. You owed the city an additional 10 hours a month. Most folks used benefit time if they didn't have sufficient court time for the 10 hours. One patrol team had the relief coverage and worked a Friday day shift, a Saturday overlap from 1600-0430 and a night shift of 1800-0630 on Sunday. That was actually a pretty good shift, especially when I was a corporal since each day had a different assignment. On Friday, I would be the patrol sergeant, on Saturdays, I would usually be teamed up with another relief team officer in a City car and Sunday was my turn to be the City crime scene investigation unit.
There were some bad thing about 12 hour shifts. One is usually court time. Working nights you get off at 0630, but had to be back for court at 0900 or 1330 for traffic court. This was a good reason to work the weekend shifts. Another bad thing was travel time. A lot of our officers had to live an hour or more away from our city to afford housing. That made for a 14+ hour workdays if you take the commute into consideration. More than one guy slept in his vehicle in the underground parking lot instead of commuting 2 out of the 3 workdays.
The first indication a bad guy should have that I'm dangerous is when his
disembodied soul is looking down at his own corpse wondering what happened.
We work a rotating days off 4-10 plan. Days off skip ahead 1 day every week, until you come to your weekend's off, then you get two four day weekends on the actual weekend! And everyone in patrol gets this. Shifts are bid by seniority, every six months. Works out for new guys and senior guys. I think it's the best schedule I've ever heard of, still.
Rotating days / graves on a monthly basis has been shown to be extremely problematic due to sleep issues - and we're a profession that already has sleep issues. We are finally ataffed well enough once a year. Day, Swing, or Graves on M-Th (4/10) or F-Sun (3/12.5 + 1 8hr make up day). It seems like everyone is as happy as they can be.
I'll be 49 later this year, and my kids are grown, if that has any bearing.
"It's surprising how often you start wondering just how featureless a desert some people's inner landscapes must be."
-Maple Syrup Actual
Just to throw a couple out there that I've heard of, but haven't personally worked:
1. An airport PD works 12s but they go 0000-1200 and 1200-0000. Sounded goofy at first, but you are able to take care of personal business without taking time off. Also, any staff meetings take place in and around 1200-ish, so no one has to get up in the middle of their sleep cycle. I imagine that court wouldn't be too bad, either.
2. Lancaster County (NE) SO does (or did) work 4 10s, with either Thu-Fri-Sat off or Sun-Mon-Tue off. Wednesdays was training for 1/2 the shift, then the other 1/2 the next week.
"It's surprising how often you start wondering just how featureless a desert some people's inner landscapes must be."
-Maple Syrup Actual
not LE but I've done 8s and 12s at different EDs and I've done 12s on other clinical rotations (ie labor & delivery). Never done 10s.
12s are rough, as noted they add up to a to a lot more than 12h/day. Nights are hard no matter the length of shift but o/n 12s are a special form of hell IMO, especially if you sign out at like 8 or 9. I have never once in my life eaten a normal diet while taking o/n call.
If they are going to put you on that schedule, I agree that doing days for at least several months in a row before switching to nights is probably the only way to do it.
Last edited by Nephrology; 01-26-2018 at 05:48 PM.
We currently work the “DuPont” schedule which gives us 7 straight days off once a month. In March we switch to the modified DuPont which is: work 2 off 2, work 3 off 2, work 2 off 3. Rotates every two weeks from days to nights. Shift times are 0600-1800 & 1800-0600.
ETA: seems like every schedule I’ve ever worked was some sort of “DuPont” schedule...
Last edited by KeeFus; 01-26-2018 at 08:42 PM.
Reply With Quote