Shiftwork

[Kate]

Asking what shift you like best was done back in June here on the forum, but only had five replies, so I thought I'd try it again and add a few questions of my own.

So which shift do you prefer working the most and why? How often does your department change those shifts? When you go from the extreme (day to night, or vice versa), how do you adjust to it? Do you have a routine to make things easier so it's not such a shock to the body?

[acreature]

5pm-3am... it is my permanent shift, 4 nights a week, I make my own schedule.

The rest of the district rotates weekly through the 3 shifts which are 71m-5pm, 5pm-3am and 9pm-7am

Everything happens within those hours.

[scott715us]

I like the 8 hr shifts. I work 2p-10p. If you have good days off, this is a good shift. But there are alot of officers that work mornings that better fit their schedule with their families. We worked 12 hr shifts for about 6 mos due to a manpower issue. I wasn't crazy about working shifts that long, but my days off were Sun/Mon/Tue and every other Saturday. The days off were great, but I think the long hours took their toll on me.

I would like to try a 10 hr shift with 3 days off, but I don't see my dept going to it, so my 2-10pm is pretty nice, especially since I just went to Sun/Mon off. Football season ;)

[Lfpdlieu302]

my favorite shift to work is 2pm to 2 am. you get the best of both worlds, I'm a creature of the night baby! our shifts never change, only rarely. we work 12 hour shifts and only work 15 days a month. for instance this week i worked monday and tuesday, off wed, and thurs, and worked friday, sat, and sunday. next week i'm off mon and tue, work wed and thur, and off fri, sat and sun. i love it! the 12's get long sometimes, but the days off make up for it. oh, and i work 6 am to 6 pm.

[JD45]

I work Weds-Sat 1630-0230. Fridays and Saturdays are the best to work and I still get a Sunday off. Our shifts are based on the team you're assigned to. We pick teams by seniority so nothing changes unless you get bumped off by someone more senior to you or decide to make a move on your own.

[acreature]

I work Weds-Sat......

That's the nights I typically choose to work...... weds-sat ;)


And your seniors pick their shift partners? Kinda leaves the less desirables to themselves huh? (Not that I'd complain )

[JD45]

That's the nights I typically choose to work...... weds-sat


And your seniors pick their shift partners? Kinda leaves the less desirables to themselves huh?

Great nights to work huh?..:D There are seven patrol teams in our dept. Each team has about 8-10 officers. Team 1 is the senior team with people that have 20+ years on. Mon-Thurs 0700-1700. Gotta love that. Team 7 is the lowest seniority team which works Thurs-Sun 2130-0730. I hated that shift. We're all solos in our cars so we never really see each other excpet for on calls. Or at dinner..

[Retired Trooper]

we have 2 options ( not really options but you know what i mean ). 0545-1800 or 1745-0600. Police work wise I prefer 1745-0600 but with family I prefer 0545-1800.

[mcsap]

Give me 2nd shift please.

But I have to work 2 weeks of days,

Two weeks of 2nds ( in the middle of the 2 weeks I get 2 midnight shifts)

Two weeks of midnights.

REPEAT.

NEWSFLASH------ Jan 05 we are going to 12 hr shifts, oh JOY :(

[corporal716]

In patrol I liked 1800- 0400 the cover shift Wed- Sat
In Jail I liked 1500- 2300 six days on with three off.

[Tankus]

we rotate days and afternoons.....
0700-1500 or 0800-1600

1500-2300 or 1600-2400

every six weeks or so we get a night shift 2300-0700....

i prefer the night shift....and would normally put in for it,but it impacts on the family too much...so i make the most of the afternoon shift....

i like the dark!!

[JD45]

NEWSFLASH------ Jan 05 we are going to 12 hr shifts, oh JOY :(

That's a long shift. 3 on and 3 1/2-4 off I assume? Some in our dept are trying to go to 12 hour shifts. I'll keep my 4/10's thank you..

[sbrad]

We work 0700-1900 or 1900-0700. With watch preference day shift is considered "prefered". So once you go on days you start at the bottom of the list. Those at the top (those who have been on day shift for the longest) are plucked off when someoone from nights requests days and are sent to the dark side. You only have to do one rotation (3 months) on nights before you can request days again, which means you get to screw someone that's on the top of the list and send them to nights. The only time you aren't plucked off the top of the list is when someone from days puts in a request for nights. So if, for instance, 3 people want to come to days but two people from days put in for nights, only one person gets taken from the list and the other two are voluntary.
It still confuses me. I'm on nights, by the way. I requested it.

[GoDirectly2Jail]

We work 0700-1900 or 1900-0700...

We are the same, except 0600-1800 or 1800-0600. I, myself, work an Admin. schedule which is Mon. - Fri. 0800-1700 (with possible callout) so the wife is loving it. I kinda miss the shifts, though: more off-duty money.

[Darin]

We work 7 1600-0000 1 off 7 0800-1600 off 7 0000-0800 and 5 1/2 off.

My favorite is the 1600-0000 shift because there's more action. It's not the best for family.