Texas Police Department: Effects of officers Sleep Deprivation on Work and Family

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The purpose of the research set out to test the hypothesis, the research starts with a review of current research data on the negative effects caused by shift work. What the effects are on the person working the hours any possible solutions that can be addressed about the negative effects. And what are the negatives and positive aspects of implementing the usage of a compressed work week schedules, a comparative analysis will be conducted to take place during a mock four days, 40 hour CWW. And the USSS ERT’S traditional Five day, 40-hour work week. To be done during the week of November 17, 2016 to November 23, 2016. The categories will be broken down as, sick leave usage, overtime, training, administrative duty time, and the number of police officers who were able to request days off or able to take their normal days off. Those were directly compared between both two schedules. The reasons for the different categories will fully be explained in further research.

Problem statement

Although numerous reports, studies and research have been conducted over the years, none showing substantiated evidence linking in to an officer work hour, as the main cause of the officers work hours, as the main cause of the officer’s health problems (Grandner, 2011). It seems to be questionable what is causing poor sleep, unrecognized sleep disorders and fatigue on work hours, amongst police officers. Police officers have become prone to health issues such as weight and obesity, cardio-vascular disease, sleep disorders. Researchers set out to see if there was any relationship between an officers work week hours (Ramey, 20012).

Purpose statement

The purpose of this case study is to determine and examine the compressed work week schedules, and the possible side effects. Determining if there is an association between an officers work performance or their medical issues, and sleep disorders. Research studies state there isn’t evidence linking an officers work hours, as of today to health issues. Over the past 20 years’ researchers have taken more interest in linking long work hours, to medical issues (Ramey, 2012).

Literature review

Officers who are required to do shift work, the effect are often loss of sleep. Quality of sleep is reduced for an officer working shift work and the amount of sleep is diminished by two hours a night, on average (Harrington, 2013). Latest research has demonstrated that officers in the majority of police departments are highly fatigued while at work. A study that was conducted by the Police Executive Research Forum in conjunction with the National Institute of Justice discovered that 41 percent of 298 police officers that completed the Pittsburgh Police Sleep Quality Index Study attained such low levels that clinicians would have recommended they seek medical attention for sleep deprivation. This study also revealed that only 17 percent of the officers reported getting eight hours or more sleep a night (Vila, Morrison, & Kenney, 2002). The Buffalo Police Department Sleep Study also noticed that police officers working the night shift were 44 percent more likely to get less than seven hours of sleep a night. Compared to the American public, where 57 percent acquire more than seven hours of sleep a night, this is significantly low (Charles, Burchfiel, & Fekedulegn, 2007). The impact on the safety of the public due to worker fatigue has become increasingly apparent over the past century. Due to this information, the U.S. government has made steps to regulate the work hours of selected occupational groups such as train engineers, truckers, pilots, and nuclear power plant operators but not the police (Vila et al., 2002). William Dement, a distinguished sleep researcher, believes that “law enforcement is the one profession in which we would want all practitioners to have adequate and healthful sleep to perform their duties at peak alertness levels” (Vila et al., 2002, p. 4).

An ideal situation would be that all police officers would receive a sufficient amount of sleep and come to work rested and be fully alert, unfortunately this is not always the case. When officers suffer from sleep loss it has serious adverse effects on their health. Humans sleep typically at night and do so in approximately 24-hour interval (Antues, Levandovski, Dantas, Caumo, & Hidalgo, 2010). When this circadian rhythm, 24-hour cycle that tells our bodies when to sleep and regulates many other physiological processes, is interrupted by shift work and long hour’s officers put in, it interrupts the body’s natural schedule. Involuntary bodily functions such as body temperature, respiratory rate, cell division, and hormone production are all disrupted by the hour’s police officers keep (Harrington, 2013).

If the natural rhythm of the body is interrupted for long continuous periods, then it can lead to serious health problems. The most predominant health problem experienced by shift workers is gastrointestinal problems. The common gastrointestinal symptoms experienced by shift workers are stomach pain, alterations in bowel habits, constipation, and diarrhea (Knutsson, 2003). There is also compelling evidence connecting shift work to peptic ulcer disease. A study of 11,657 shift workers found the prevalence of gastrointestinal peptic ulcers were two times more likely to be in shift workers than compared to non-shift workers (Knutsson, 2003). Researchers believe this is due to lack of sleep, having the body’s natural rhythm thrown off schedule by shift work, and by the choices shift workers make. Shift workers have a tendency to make poor quality nutritional selections while on shift. For shift workers who are working the night shift this is especially true. These night shift workers often times make poor quality in food choices due to fast food often being the only available option during this time. (Harrington, 2013).

Cardiovascular disease is another health problem that is predominant among shift workers. Shift workers are 40 percent more likely to be at greater risk of cardiovascular disease than non-shift workers (Harrington, 2013). There is an association between cardiovascular disease and obesity. Obesity is also predominant in shift workers (Antunes, 2010). Comparing 787 day workers to 787 night workers, duration of shift work exposure was a highly significant predictor of higher body mass index (BMI) in night workers (Antunes, 2010). Just like with gastrointestinal problems, researchers believe that the increased risk of cardiovascular disease and obesity experienced by shift workers is due to in part by lack of sleep and poor food choices. The metabolic efficiency would depend on the time the food was eaten,