Dangerous fatigue conditions: a study of police work and law enforcement administration

Abstract

Sleep deprivation data from various nations have shown a lack of sleep contributing to a number of severe and destructive workplace accidents. Here, a triangulated research strategy focusing on pre‐existing data, survey administration, and personal interviews from multiple law enforcement agencies (police, sheriff, and highway patrol) was implemented to study conditions which induce dangerous levels of fatigue in law enforcement personnel. Initial findings reveal extraordinarily high numbers of hours worked weekly per officer. Graveyard shifts, overtime, college education reimbursement, secondary employment, and other factors have all proven to invite excessive work while the PSQ metric data indicate that officers receive remarkably insufficient or otherwise poor rest. This combination of excess work and reduced sleep perilously heightens the risk of officer injury, compromised public safety, and the possibility of significant civil liability damage awards for avoidable accidents.

Keywords:

• fatigue
• policing
• police administration