I'm not bright enough to be able to keep it straight. I'd end up sleeping when I was supposed to be at work, forgetting it was my short day or showing up on time off. Straight shifts are all I can handle. Even if we did first half/last half, I'd be on a straight shift, days. I'd be unemployed.
12s are the way to go, 7p to 7a and 7a to 7p - 4 on and 4 off, i would much rather work mids, im not a morning person at all!
Yeah we used to do 12 hour shifts..4 on 2 off and we had to stop because people were doing DUMB shit due to lack of sleep and just being mentally/physically drained.
I take details just before and just after my shift. 12 hour days would eat into my income, but I can see the benefit of them. AND PLEASE don't say, "You can work on your days off!!" I do NOT KNOW the university exists on my days off and I like it that way.
yea 4 on and 2 off would suck. but 4 and 4 is nice, and there are alot of different ways to do it. the FD by far has the best shift though, they do 24s and work 1 on 2 off then 1 on and 4 off... haha yea thats true, i didnt think of that. i dont have alot of gas left in me to want to work more than 12hrs at a time, although i have done 18s and 16s for overtime, just sucks you have to be right back in...
How many people here found the 1600-0000 people loved that shift and HATED 0000-0800, and vice versa? When I started over twenty-something years ago I was on 4p-Mids and loved it. Only thing hated was the midnight-shift jerks who banged out and forced OT. I have worked Mids at one agency for couple years and wanted to kill myself. Recently we used to do the 4/3 and 3/4 days on/off (12 hour shifts). Then new management decided the "panama schedule" with 3/2 & 2/3 days on/off was better for fair and equitable exposure to incentive pays and reduce OT. I don't know how the Midnight guys are still alive...
2300-0700 for me by choice. Less brass walking around and shift differential. I've been on 3rd for almost 10 years and my sleep cycle is like Frankenstein's monster.
I actually started on a swing shift after break in, two days, two mids back to back. I felt subhuman and to this day I hate both shifts. Days are full of BS complains, MVA's, past B&E's and medical calls. If I had an affinity for the medical field past helping a fellow officer, i'd have become a doctor. Eves were definitely the best because the shift was so busy with arrests that before you knew it, the shift was over. You wake up the next day and have the whole morning to go to the gym and get stuff done before heading to back work. You go in ready for the adventure of the shift, it's perfect for people who like to work, not the ROD guys. Mids, on the other hand suck! You can't get good sleep, you feel like shit all of the time and you just want to get though the last half of the shift without being bothered because your eyes feel like you've been OC'd and rubbed with sand. It's a necessary evil, though, when you need to finish up school and/or make money on the detail trail. Plus, when something bad happens, it's FUBAR and you're writing your report thinking, i'm gonna get my ass kicked on the stand by some fucking pretty boy atty. who would've shit himself and puked had he seen that crash in person. He's asleep right now...fuck it...this report is two pages, max. I hope that stupid drunk thrashing in the cell block knocks himself out. Twenty minutes later...great, he's asleep too
Midnight shift here is 2100-0700 and I love it. I get plenty of sleep, go to the gym etc. I have enough days off that I can get back to a 'normal' for a two or three days before switching back to vampire mode. 5 on, 4 off, 5 on, 4off, 5 on, 5 off
Why were you guys working a 4 and 2 on 12 hour shifts? That makes 48 hours in a work week. The whole idea behind 12 hour shifts is to work less days a week, not more. We've had a 4/10 and 3/12 schedule for about 10 years now and everybody loves it. We don't work the details you guys have although overtime is pretty easy to get with crime scenes, perimeters, arrests, etc.
Yep and they get to sleep while at work, watch tv, wash their cars, have a nice sit down meal while it is still warm and no one complains.
I started out at a campus PD in Springfield working 2000-0400 when I was 21, and I don't know how I survived THAT. When I got on full time at my current place, I can count on one hand the times I worked mid shift (voluntarily). Usually, I'd get held because some mid shift dick didn't feel like coming in, and they always seem to call out at 2200, when shift starts at 2300. I worked the eve shift from 1992 to 2005, then I went days. When I was on eves, I'd work until 2300, and often past that. Go home and unwind for an hour or so, then hit the rack. Then back up at 0600 to be at a detail for 0700. Get out of the detail after 4 hours, do errands, get ready for work and repeat. I did that for a LONG time, don't ask me how, but it was by sheer force of willpower most times. I did that so Mrs. Law could stay home with the babies and we could still pay bills. Now, I will occasionally work a detail, I'm happy as a clam being on days, and I get to be home for dinner and family time. Sure it sucks with all the non-driving fucks out there crashing into each other, stupid people not locking their doors and getting B&E'd and being watched by the admin, but each person has their own favorite shift for their own reasons.
Before my LE career, I worked a few years 1900-0300, then 0700-1500. Went back to school full time days and worked various shifts full time. Finished school and worked mid-0800 and then worked for a contactor from 0830-whenever. Slept 4 hrs, and did it again. Started LE on mids for 3-4 years, then 2 years 1200-0800 (worst shift ever) Then settled in on 1600-0000 for the past 7 years or so. 1600-0000 is by far the best in my case. Days are not for me as there is too much brass who are not on the same page as each other or the patrolmen. Needless to say, I have had sleep problems over the years. Went to doctor about a year ago and was prescribed 1/2 ambien on as needed basis. Body and mind finally settled down and I have not taken one in months and sleep regularly now, sometimes 10 hours straight, which has not happened in years. I will say it may not be for everyone. (ambien) But do see your doctor, as that's why they go to school for so long. It literally changed my life for the better. I see the family a little less but I spend a lot of family time with days off, comp time, vac time, etc. And during that time with them, my kids and wife have noticed that dad is not grumpy much. Quality over quantity. My younger days I thought any time sleeping meant I was missing something. It was my sanity, now regained.
I did 1800-0200 for a few years in the days before cable TV and VCRs. I enjoyed the shift, but the wind down time SUCKED. Crappy movies, rebroadcasts of the news and test patterns. When I got up, all that was on was GENERAL HOSPITAL. I was never closer to jumping off the Tobin Bridge in my life. Then the overnight shift opened up and I've NEVER looked back.
Been working 2300-0700 for just about 10 years straight. The A&E series the Walking Dead is based on me.
Never a fan of mids, but worked plenty of them on OT. Eves was my favorite shift. Lots of activity and details on the day shift. Kind of tough on a young family though, but it can work with reg days off, VAC and Per days.
I've done 12 years of Mids... LOVE the people I work with and THAT makes it worth the tired. I'm looking at going to the Day shift soon enough.. but we'll see... would actually prefer Eves, but that's the house of hate in our place.
