Effects of 13-Hour 20-Minute Work Shifts on Law Enforcement Officers' Sleep, Cognitive Abilities, Health, Quality of Life, and Work Performance

• Author: Barry A. Cassidy,Thomas B. Virden,Leonard B. Bell,Deborah J. Lewis
• Date: 01 September 2015
• DOI: 10.1177/1098611115584910
• Published date: 01 September 2015
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article
Police Quarterly
2015, Vol. 18(3) 293–337
Effects of 13-Hour
! The Author(s) 2015
Reprints and permissions:
20-Minute Work Shifts
sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/1098611115584910
on Law Enforcement
pqx.sagepub.com
Officers’ Sleep,
Cognitive Abilities,
Health, Quality of Life,
and Work
Performance: The
Phoenix Study
Leonard B. Bell1, Thomas B. Virden2,
Deborah J. Lewis3, and
Barry A. Cassidy4
Abstract
To determine the impact of a longer-than-average compressed workweek on police
officers’ sleep, cognitive abilities, health, quality of life, and work performance, two
precincts of the Phoenix Police Department participated in a 9-month, repeated-
measures study. The experimental precinct worked three consecutive 13-hr 20-min
(13:20-hr) shifts per week for 6 months, while the control precinct worked four
10-hr shifts per week. Officers were assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality
Index, Psychomotor Vigilance Test, STROOP Color-Word test, Quality of Life
Inventory, and measures of salivary cortisol. The Phoenix Police Department pro-
vided data for Professional Standards Bureau complaints, shooting qualifications,
vehicular accidents, self-initiated calls, adult bookings, field interrogations, overtime,
1Biomedical Sciences Program, College of Health Sciences, Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ, USA
2Clinical Psychology Program, College of Health Sciences, Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ, USA
3Arizona Behavioral Health Specialists, Phoenix, AZ, USA
4Phoenix Police Department, AZ, USA
Corresponding Author:
Leonard B. Bell, Biomedical Sciences Program, College of Health Sciences, Midwestern University,
19555 N. 59th Avenue, Glendale, AZ 85308, USA.
Email: lbellx@midwestern.edu

---

294
Police Quarterly 18(3)
and time off for the 6 months of the study period and the same 6 months of the
previous year. Self-reported caffeine intake and shift preference were also collected.
Officers working 13:20-hr shifts experienced significant (p of sleep, overall quality of sleep, concentration, cognitive processing, and quality of
life (overall and in six of eight subareas). Significant (p in fatigue, daytime dysfunction due to sleepiness, reaction time, anticipatory
errors, and Professional Standards Bureau complaints. There were no significant
differences in most indices of work performance or differences due to working
day or night shifts. When officers working 13:20-hr shifts returned to 10-hr shifts,
all variables returned to baseline (prestudy) levels. Officers from both precincts
overwhelmingly preferred 10-hr shifts. This study indicates that there are no appar-
ent advantages but considerable liabilities associated with 13:20-hr shifts for police
officers.
Keywords
police officers, extended shifts, shift length, compressed workweek, sleep, quality
of life, fatigue, salivary cortisol, work performance
Introduction
Law enforcement of‌f‌icers perform essential, high-prof‌ile services that require the
capacity for high-level functioning and sound decision making (Barger, Lockley,
Rajaratnam, & Landrigan, 2009). Law enforcement administrators have sought
creative ways to provide necessary, quality services to their communities in the
most cost-ef‌fective manner. Toward that end, administrators have contemplated
extending of‌f‌icer shift lengths from 8 hr to 10, 12, and even 13 hr (O’Neill &
Cushing, 1991). However, studies from several professions such as health care
(Josten, Ng-A-Tham, & Thierry, 2003; Lockley et al., 2007; Scott et al., 2007),
power plant operators (Mitchell & Williamson, 2000), and long-haul pilots
(Rosekind et al., 1994) show that with extended shift length come increased
fatigue and safety concerns. Since the early 1990s, studies have investigated
the ef‌fects of compressed workweeks (CWWs) on law enforcement of‌f‌icer’s
health, sleep, cognitive function, and work satisfaction. CWWs exist when
fewer but longer days are worked during a week. The most common CWWs
are four 10-hr days per week or three 12-hr days with an additional 4-hr shift at
some point in the workweek. Amendola, Slipka, Hamilton, Soelberg, and Koval
(2011a) reported that of‌f‌icers prefer the four 10-hr shifts per workweek and that
there is a national trend away from traditional 8-hr shifts (Amendola, Weisburd,
Hamilton, Jones, & Slipka, 2011c) toward extended 10-hr and 12-hr shifts. There
is evidence (Amendola, Weisburd, Hamilton, Jones, & Slipka, 2011b, 2011d)
that increasing the number of hours worked by police of‌f‌icers from 8-hr to
10-hr shifts has a positive outcome in regard to quality of work life and hours

---

Bell et al.
295
of sleep per night for of‌f‌icers. However, these benef‌its were not further increased
when of‌f‌icers worked 12-hr shifts.
Some police departments work 13-hr shifts. However, the ef‌fects of working
shifts longer than 12-hr have not been systematically studied in law enforcement
of‌f‌icers. It is unclear whether working longer shifts and increasing the number of
days of‌f per week (e.g., 4 days of‌f per week) would have a benef‌icial or detri-
mental ef‌fect on health, quality of life (QoL), and performance of of‌f‌icers.
The Phoenix Police Department (PPD; AZ) is the 14th largest police depart-
ment (N ¼ 3,388 sworn of‌f‌icers) in the nation (Reaves, 2008) in the sixth largest
city (United States Census, 2010). Since 1981, of‌f‌icers in the PPD worked a
CWW of four 10-hr consecutive shifts (10-hr shift; M. J. Nikolin, personal com-
munication, Phoenix Police Museum, July 13, 2013). In response to union
requests in 2011, the PPD initiated a study to investigate the ef‌fects of of‌f‌icers
working three consecutive shifts of 13-hr 20-min per week (i.e., a 40-hr work-
week divided into 3 workdays; 13:20-hr shift). A 6-month trial of the 13:20-hr
CWW was instituted to study the ef‌fects (i.e., risks and benef‌its) of this novel
shift on of‌f‌icer sleep, cognitive function, health, QoL, and performance.
Based on existing literature with police of‌f‌icers as well as other professions, it
was hypothesized that working a CWW consisting of three consecutive 13-hr
20-min shifts per week would have a negative ef‌fect on sleep, alertness, cognitive
processing, quality of work life, and work performance when compared with
four 10-hr shifts per week in police of‌f‌icers.
Methods
The PPD has eight precincts. For the purposes of this study, a quasi-experimen-
tal, repeated-measures study design was developed. It was quasi-experimental in
that of the eight precincts in the PPD, the participating precincts were not ran-
domly selected. Rather, the participating precincts were selected because they
were of similar size, had similar of‌f‌icer demographics and crime rates, and shared
a common border.
Of‌f‌icers from two precincts participated in the study. The control precinct
(N ¼ 197 sworn of‌f‌icers: f‌irst responders, patrol sergeants, and patrol lieutenants)
maintained four consecutive 10-hr shifts per week throughout the study (10-hr
precinct). The experimental precinct (N ¼ 189 sworn of‌f‌icers) switched to three
consecutive 13-hr 20-min shifts per week (13:20-hr precinct). The study lasted for
9 months (December 2011 through August 2012). In December, baseline (pre-
trial) data were collected from both precincts while they both worked four 10-hr
shifts per week. Baseline data were used to determine the equality of the two
precincts. During the 6-month trial period (January through June 2012), the
control (10-hr) precinct worked four consecutive 10-hr shifts per week, while
the experimental precinct worked three consecutive 13:20-hr shifts per week. In
precincts working 10-hr shifts, there were three shifts: daytime (Shift 1), evening

---

296
Police Quarterly 18(3)
(Shift 2), and nighttime (Shift 3). Each shift consisted of three squads with half-
hour staggered start times. Squads in Shift 1 started at 5:00 a.m., 5:30 a.m., and
6:00 a.m. and worked for 10 hr until 3:00 p.m., 3:30 p.m., and 4:00 p.m., respect-
ively. Squads in Shift 2 started at 1:30 p.m., 2:00 p.m., and 2:30 p.m. and worked
until 11:30 p.m., 12:00 a.m., and 12:30 a.m., respectively. Squads in Shift 3 started
at 8:00 p.m., 8:30 p.m., and 9:00 p.m. and worked until 6:00 a.m., 6:30 a.m., and
7:00 a.m., respectively. In precincts working 13:20-hr shifts, there were two
shifts: daytime (Shift 1) and nighttime (Shift 2). Squads working daytime
shifts started at 5:00 a.m., 5:30 a.m., and 6:00 a.m. and worked 13:20-hr shifts
until 6:19 p.m., 6:49 p.m., and 7:19 p.m., respectively. Squads working the night-
time shifts in the 13:20-hr started at 5:00 p.m., 5:30 p.m., and 6:00 p.m. and
worked until 6:19 a.m., 6:49 a.m., and 7:19 a.m., respectively. Start times of
squads on each shift overlapped to provide coverage in the f‌ield. Data collected
during the 6-month trial were used to determine the ef‌fect of the 13:20-hr shift on
of‌f‌icers and to determine the timeline of any changes. After the 6-month trial, the
experimental precinct went back to working four consecutive 10-hr shifts per
week. Data collected during July and August of 2012 (posttrial) were used to
determine if values in the experimental 13:20-hr precinct returned to baseline
levels. Table 1 illustrates the study protocol. Of‌f‌icers assigned to the control and
experimental precincts remained in their respective precincts for the duration of
the study. They were not allowed to switch precincts or remove themselves from
the experimental precinct. Careful consideration was given to the number of
instruments used to assess the of‌f‌icers and the frequency of assessment to
allow the most comprehensive...