The nearly 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States are active every minute of every day. This means that law enforcement personnel need to be in top conditions 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Shift work is a necessary and integral part of the law enforcement profession that affects all the nearly 800,000 U.S. police professionals at some point during their careers to ensure that policing services can be provided around the clock.
This reality has a direct impact on the wellness of law enforcement officers.
Chronic fatigue and other illnesses caused by irregular work schedules have long been a source of concern for law enforcement officers.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recently discussed the Buffalo Cardio-Metabolic Occupational Police Stress (BCOPS) study, which followed hundreds of public safety officers between 2004 and 2020, tracking their work schedules and health over the course of the project.
What are the side effects of shift work in law enforcement?
In a recent study, participants had their heart rates, waist and neck circumference, height and weight, abdominal height, and blood pressure measured on a regular basis. Researchers also conducted blood tests and ultrasound studies of coronary arteries, as well as analyses of bone density. The study showed that police officers who worked mostly the night shift had a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, impaired blood flow, and metabolic syndrome. Women were more resistant to the health risks associated with night shift work, but they were more stressed by internal organizational issues than by street dangers. Another interesting finding was that changes in the study participants’ mental health were driven less by shift work stress and more by other behavioral issues common in policing. There was a lack of organizational support for individual officers, as well as the threat of physical harm.How to address the problems that come with shift changes in law enforcement
Leading social psychologists researching law enforcement issues have outlined what their research suggests is urgently needed to improve police officer wellness and performance, as well as reduce police officer deaths.