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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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There are some angry officers in the Flint Police Department. They are really bristling about Lock's comments that the recently implemented 12 hr shifts will give the officers more free time. I was told the officer's want more help and not more free time. According to a Flint Journal article the officers union has filed an unfair labor practice over the 12 hour shift.
They have the school liason officers on the road now, but they are still running non stop per shift. It will get worse when the liason officers return to the schools in the fall, said an officer.
With some in the community asking for a Metropolitan Police force, there are officers saying they believe Lock and the administration is setting them up for failure and future privitization. Officers point to the three shifts (3,6,&9) that they believe are reducing the volume of officers at some times of the day. They also point to the failure of Lock to implement the four sectors as outlined in the plan. This MSU plan doesn't make sense in the field under the current circumstances.
Crime in Flint is now occurring 24/7 and we end each shift behind. Officers are receiving numerous shots fired and violence related calls all day and they say the constant running keeps their adrenaline pumping. A shooting, a stabbing, a home invasion and other serious crimes can tie up a number of officers for prolonged periods of time. |
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Sat Jun 30, 2012 10:03 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Inside Criminal Justice
By John Sodaro
Thursday, March 08, 2012 12:20
Sleeping Cops
It didn’t take long for the embarrassing photo to spread around the internet and newspapers.
The image of a uniformed New York City Police Officer slouched on a subway bench, chin tucked into his chest and eyes closed, was quickly distributed to news outlets.
What can’t be seen in the picture, taken Feb. 16, is the amount of hours that Officer Matthew Sobota, a 20-year veteran of the NYPD, logged in prior to his nap.
“I was tired,” a regretful Sobata told the New York Daily News. “I worked multiple tours.”
Sobota now faces department discipline which could take away some vacation days.
He wasn’t the first officer to be caught sleeping. Last December, Christopher Heslop, a Canton, Ohio police officer, was photographed sleeping in his police cruiser at 2 am.
The picture was snapped by Sean Quinn, a civilian driving nearby, who said later that he was trying to signal with his headlights to the officer in order to draw his attention to a car accident a few hundred yards in front of the officer.
On Feb. 14, Heslop was issued a letter of reprimand.
Sleep deprivation has long been an issue for police officers. Irregular work hours─ combined with shift changes that can drag on much longer than the standard eight- hour day---represent an occupational hazard.
A Viral Embarrassment
But the ubiquity of the Internet, which can turn a photo or video of a napping officer into a viral embarrassment, has forced many police departments to address public concerns: are sleeping cops a danger to the public’s safety─ and their own?
Martin Bisi, a music producer, who took the picture of Officer Sabota, explained his concern to the New York Daily News.
“I thought maybe a teenager could take (Sobota’s) gun and sell it or use it,” he said. “I felt like it was potentially unsafe,”
Last December, a study conducted by Harvard researchers, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), suggested that police officers’ lack of sleep could be a threat to the communities they serve.
Some 40 percent of the 5,000 municipal and state police officers surveyed were diagnosed with sleep disorders. According to the study, conducted over a two year period on site and online, officers who screened positive for sleep disorders had a 25 percent higher risk of expressing anger toward suspects and citizens---and 35 percent had a higher chance of having a complaint filed against them.
Officer Patrick Bowery, a midnight shift officer in his second year of service with the Chicago Police Department, understands how lack of sleep can affect his relationship with the community.
“When I get over tired I often become irritable and have less patience.” He said in an interview with The Crime Report. “At times I do become more confrontational and sometimes lose my temper easier than if I was well rested.”
Asleep At the Wheel
Perhaps an even bigger threat to community and the officers themselves is nodding off while driving police cruisers.
Sleeping at the wheel was the cause of Police Officers Francine Murphy’s 1999 car accident in Broward County, Florida. Investigators found that Murphy was exhausted, fell asleep and ran a red light crashing her patrol car into a Sherriff’s Office corrections van at 5 am.
Murphy was suspended for a week. A year later, the Margate City Commissioner settled a civil suit brought by the driver of the corrections van for $100,000.
In the same year, rookie Police Officer Donald Scalf, of the Cincinnati Police Department, was indicted for vehicular homicide after he hit and killed a jogger. Scalf reportedly fell asleep while driving home after finishing his midnight shift.
“I believe driving is the most dangerous part of the job,” Officer Bowery said. “We are in the car far more than anything else.”
“If I am not completely alert,” he continued,. “I am vulnerable to get into a traffic crash which could seriously harm or kill me.”
Compressed Schedules
Some departments have addressed the problem by developing “compressed” schedules, during which officers worked a ten-hour, four-day shift.
In a two-year study of two police forces which took that route (Arlington, TX and Detroit MI), researchers from the Police Foundation, a Washington-DC-based non-profit research group, found that officers working the compressed schedule “got significantly more sleep,” than their counterparts on normal shifts.
But longer shifts can also produce other problems. In the 1990’s, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) instituted 10- and 12- hour shifts. Although the change was popular in the department, one LAPD officer confided there were worrying “side effects.”
“I am a full time vampire,” joked the officer who asked to remain anonymous. “Sleep during the day and wide awake at night.,”
The side effect, he said, included mood swings, insomnia, and bad eating habits.
The fact is, even a 12-hour shift doesn’t fully reflect an officer’s working day, the LAPD source said, pointing out that he is often required to put in extra time for court appearances.
“My shift goes from 18:30 to 06:30 without court or work related overtime,” he said. “Court can last from 08:30-16:30, and I might have to go back to work after court so my sleep might come in a short series of naps."
The constant readjustment of his sleep scheduled has affected his health.
Running on Coffee
“There are days when I am on overtime I can feel my heart beating rapidly,” said the officer, who has been on the force four years. “At times I have not eaten properly and I’m running on coffee just to finish my arrest reports.”
In fact, the main reason for officer fatigue, according to cops themselves, is the additional hours spent in doing such non-police tasks—especially during off-duty hours.
One department that was concerned with finding a solution to the extra hours that can occur because of court appearances is the Ferndale Police Department.
The small department of 48 sworn officers in Michigan switched over to 12-hour shifts at the beginning of the year. But in an attempt to relieve the night shift platoon from the burden of court appearances the following morning, the city is implementing a night court.
Bryan Vila, professor at the of Criminal Justice at Washington State University and author of the book Tired Cops: The Importance of Managing Police Fatigue, says the concerns of LAPD officer and other cops about the effects of sleep deprivation are well-founded.
“The work hours of many professions, like airline pilots and truck drivers, are standardized and regulated,” noted Vila in an article for the National Institute of Justice.
“No such structure exists for police officers
.”
Some departments have tried stricter regulations. In March 2001, the Albuquerque Police Department issued a rule forbidding officers from working more than 16 hours a day and 20 hours a week in overtime.
“The effect of sleep disorders and fatigue as it relates to public safety officials is a topic that has been ignored far too long,” then-Deputy Chief Raymond Schultz told CBS medical reporter Debbie Carvalko.
Arbitrary Rules
But setting hours according to arbitrary rules doesn’t always work. In 2006, the small police department in Conway Arkansas, switched its 68 patrol officers from an 8-hour work shift to the 12-hour shift, and then found itself with a drop in morale.
“Our officers feel the 12-hour shift is detrimental to their sleep patterns (and) therefore their health.” Sergeant T. Glen Cooper stated in his shift work comparison report. “We have seen how sleep debt affects the body, and our officers are reporting fatigue.”
The one thing most officers and experts agree on is that there are no easy answers.
Vila, who spent 17 years with the LAPD, writes that when cops ask him “What’s the best shift?” he answers, “That’s the wrong question. The right question is: what is the best way to manage shift work, keep our officers healthy and maintain high performance in our organization?”
It’s crucial, experts say, that individual officers first admit they have a sleep deprivation problem if they want to do something about it—and that can be hard.
“Some cops think it is a badge of honor to work long hours or be up for maximum hours,” Mark St. Hilaire, a Boston Police Patrol Sergeant, wrote in a recent blog post for Law Enforcement Today.
“This is insane, dumb, and unhealthy.”
And also dangerous to the public, says Bowery of the Chicago PD.
“We deal with many different situations where we have to make split second decisions that can mean the difference between life and death,” Bowery notes.
“I believe for us to be able to work at an optimal level we need to be well-rested.”
John Sodaro, a former NYPD officer now attending John Jay College, is the Spring News intern for The Crime Report. He welcomes comments from readers. |
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Sat Jun 30, 2012 10:12 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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The ink to the article mentioned above:
Sleeping Cops - Inside Criminal Justice
www.thecrimereport.org/news/inside-criminal-justice/2012-03-sleeping-cops
The image of a uniformed New York City Police Officer slouched on a ... In a two- year study of two police forces which took that route (Arlington, TX and Detroit MI) , ... The fact is, even a 12-hour shift doesn't fully reflect an officer's working day, the ... |
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Sat Jun 30, 2012 10:13 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| Moonlighting is another factor not taken into consideration. The significant loss of salary and benefits, when coupled with increased healthcare and pension costs means officers have to find opportunities to supplement their pay. The 12 hour shifts and court time limit their ability to work in other capacities to supplement their income. |
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Sat Jun 30, 2012 10:23 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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I did not listen to the scanner last night so I went to Flint Police Operations for a glimpse into last night's call.
There were numerous calls regarding domestics, shot fired and possible drunk drivers. A house in the 1700 block of Oklahoma was shot up twice, injuring a person the first time. A stabbing in the 1300 block of Cleveland, a man shooting at cars on Red Arrow and Atherton and shots fired downtown on Water Street. Some of these incidents require multiple cars.
Then throw in four fires; 2 on the east side, 1 southside and 1 in the west side.
The point is these calls are all over the map and tired cops running hot from scene to scene can have accidents and suffer severe stress. |
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Sat Jun 30, 2012 10:32 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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It is another Wild Wild West day for Flint Police, especially on the 0600 to 1800 shift as the drama started early. They have Lts answering radio calls and Captains doing janitorial. You can guess how low the morale is.
People need to stop throwing out their cigarettes as there was at least 2 grass fires today. Also a fire on Dupont and Welch. (lots in that area lately)
There are lots of assaults and domestics with injury such as the female hit by a van and the female with a knife to her neck.
Add to that a motorcycle accident on Court and ballenger and investigating a foul odor in a vacan house in the 2100 block of Mt Elliott.
Cops are running. |
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Sat Jun 30, 2012 4:58 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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The madness continues. Besides routine calls on B&E's, domestics, shots fired etc., there were two reported CSC (criminal sexual conduct ) in the south side. One in the 4500 block of Cambden, near Mckinley , where the victim also had her car stolen and went to Hurley. The alleged rapist thought to be a Cobra gang member, The second CSC was reported in the 600 block of Victoria.
That house in the 1700 block of Oklahoma was threaterned again after several drive by shootings already in the past weeks.. There are children in the home.
The 200 block of Dayton was hopping. First came calls of 4 males selling drugs in the middle of the street. Then there were calls of shots fired in the same 200 block of Dayton.
Drug dealers were also reported at the Sunoco station on West Pasadena and Milbourne. Grafitti on the back wall of the station warns people to stay out of that neighborhood.
More drunk drivers, at least two impounds and a very busy night.
Last edited by untanglingwebs on Sun Jul 01, 2012 3:03 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Sun Jul 01, 2012 8:35 am |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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| If the dealers get chased away from Liquor Plus at Dayton & King, they just move down Dayton a ways & continue business as usual. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Sun Jul 01, 2012 1:42 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Party store owners are afraid of the drug dealers and want police help. They have every right to be afraid as they may get a driveby.
One party store owner asked his customers to call as he babysat his children after school while he worked. He feared reprisals that would harm his children. |
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Sun Jul 01, 2012 3:02 pm |
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