British Policing and the Ottawa Shift System Easing the Stress of Rotating Shifts

FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin,The, Jan, 2000 by Mike Simpson, Suzanne Richbell

(5.) Working Time Regulations, Statutory Instrument No. 1833, 1998; and Council Directive 93/104/EC Concerning Certain Aspects of the Organization of Working Time, Official Journal L 307 (December 13, 1993): 18-24.

(6.) M. Frese and K. Okonek, "Reasons to Leave Shift Work and Psychological and Psychosomatic Complaints of Former Shift Workers," Journal of Applied Psychology 69 (1984): 509-514.

(7.) M.I. Holbrook, M.H. White, and M.J. Hutt, "Increasing Awareness of Sleep Hygiene in Rotating Shift Workers: Arming Law Enforcement Officers Against Impaired Performance," Perceptual and Motor Skills 79 (1994): 520-522.

(8.) R. A. Snyder, "One Man's Time Warp Is Another (Wo)man's Treasure: The Importance of Individual and Situational Differences in Shift Work Tolerance and Satisfaction," Human Resource Development Quarterly 6, no. 4 (Winter 1995): 397-407.

(9.) J. Walker, The Human Aspects of Shift Work (London: Institute of Personnel Management, 1978).

(10.) J. M. Harrington, Shift Work and Health (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1978).

(11.) Ibid.

(12.) Supra note 8.

(13.) R. Graef, Talking Blues--The Police in Their Own Words (Glasgow: Collins Harvill, 1990); and N. Fielding, Joining Forces (London: Routledge Publishing, 1988).

(14.) Supra note 13, Fielding.

(15.) G. L. Staines and J. H. Pleck, "Nonstandard Work Schedules and Family Life," Journal of Applied Psychology 69 (1984): 515-523.

(16.) S. Richbell, The Police Welfare Requirement (London: Central Advisory Facility (PRSU), Home Office, 1991).

(17.) Supra note 7.

(18.) E. Thiis-Evensen, "Shift Work and Health," Industrial Medicine and Surgery XXVII (1958): 493-497; quoted in J.M. Harrington, Shift Work and Health (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1978), 5; and M. Everley, "Shift Work and Health," Health and Safety at Work, September 1992, 40-41.

(19.) Supra note 18, Everley.

(20.) Supra note 10.

(21.) Supra note 8.

(22.) Supra note 8.

(23.) L. Smith, "Beat the Clock," Police Review, November 27, 1998, 16-18.

(24.) Supra notes 9 and 10.

(25.) Supra note 9.

(26.) Supra note 18, Everley.

(27.) Supra notes 7 and 9; and J. Adams, "Shift Patterns and the Body Clock," (Nottinghamshire, UK: Nottinghamshire Police, 1992, unpublished report).

(28.) Supra note 23.

(29.) P. Totterdell and L. Smith, "Ten-Hour Days and Eight-Hour Nights: Can the Ottawa Shift System Reduce the Problems of Shift Work?" Work and Stress 6 (1992): 139-152.

(30.) R. B. Walker and C. Eisenberg, "The 12-Hour Fixed Shift: Measuring Satisfaction," FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, August 1995, 18-20.

(31.) Duty group means a group of officers working as a unit on a specific shift rotation. Some departments may call this group a shift. However, to avoid confusion when discussing shift systems, the authors refer to these officers as duty groups.

(32.) Manpower Effectiveness and Efficiency in the Police Service, Home Office Circular 114, London (1983).

(33.) Supra note 29.

(34.) Touche Ross and Co., "Home Office Study into Effective Shift Systems for the Police Service--Final Report," (London: Home Office, 1992, unpublished report); and S. Richbell, M. Simpson, G.M.H. Sykes, and S. Meegan, "Policing with the Ottawa Shift System: A British Experience," Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management 21, no. 3 (1998): 384-396.