quote:

Originally posted by az4783054:
If you go by seniority, the newer officers would burn out fast. Shift work is a no win for anyone.

Yes and no. Although they're certainly a minority, there are some that thrive on overnight shifts, and prefer them.

If you have enough to be the majority of the night shift, almost everyone ends up happy. (Most of) the daywalkers get to work days, and the night owls get to work nights.

That's certainly preferable to nobody being happy, and everyone being constantly sleep-deprived.

Agree. The older guys had increased family responsibilities and needed days. Young troops wanted action. Just about everyone was happy. Also helped out greatly when we adopted a 6 on, 3 off schedule. At least then you got some time off.
I know these changes may have to happen above Chongos pay grade, so his union may need to push for it.

I went back to read Chongo’s original post. It seems clear me that he is not able to make the changes some are suggesting nor can he give everybody across the board raises. I’m more convinced it is back to the cooler for adult beverages

Nightvision

quote:

Originally posted by 10-7 leo:

quote:

Originally posted by Bytes:
I'm no expert but having the crew (and their significant others!) over to your house for a BBQ and a few beers couldn't hurt.

When I was in a department where the squads were big enough, at the end of just about every 1600-0200 tour, every squad had a BBQ and beer in a local park. The squads that overlapped would have some officers stop by and spend a little time.

Being that it was around 0215, wives, husbands, significant others weren't in attendance. Which was probably a good thing, as the close calls might not be something good for them to hear firsthand.

It was one of the things that I really enjoyed and fondly remember.

One department had rotating shifts, every week it changed. For a very long time before I was hired and for the entire time I was there. That's what the brass wanted, so it didn't change.

10-7: Thank you and every LEO that puts their ass on the line for me and my family every day!

booze ain't the answer

Booze can be an acceptable answer, in moderation, and depending on the circumstances.

If you're having a few beers while chatting with your brothers to bond, decompress, and process the shit you're dealing with, that's healthy.

If you're getting shitfaced drunk to temporarily escape the fact you hate your job and you're miserably stressed out, that's not healthy.

Food is probably within your means and always helps morale. GrubHub and Postmates can bring food out to them if they can't make it in. Gift cards, if neither of those are practical.

At the hospital, I like to make a stew in the Crock-Pot because it's always hot and ready, for the whole shift. If someone can stop from the craziness for 3 minutes, they can have some hot food.

People get fed and they appreciate that I cooked for them. Makes me feel good, too.

Bruce

The Orlando Police Department swaps out shifts around ~7-8 ish ever night. I've noticed the guys coming on duty very often meet at my favorite BBQ joint to have dinner together before their shift. Seems to be a good way for the guys on a shift to chat about something other than work and have a meal together.

Strip Club out of the question?

If so, I'd still go with the BBQ & Beer day.

quote:

Originally posted by PD:
IMO, nothing holds a team together like having drinks together.

Very true

Find people they've helped indirectly and set up some sort of an event. They need to "feel" the good they do.

I work in I.T. at a hospital. Almost all the time it's stress and deadlines and people complaining about problems. But when we get closer to the point of care, or hear stories of the care that our org gives, it's uplifting. It's not about the work -- or how well they do it (though they need to hear that). It's about the work -- and how well it impacts some of the most vulnerable.

You get the idea. Something along those lines I think.

Chongo, I'm no expert and I can only imagine the stresses involved in a "war-like" environment. Everyone is different and has different coping mechanisms. My suggestion would be to increase the ability to deal with that stress through fitness and diet. Yes, another shameless plug for Keto, low carb, etc. Yes, an occassional beer/pizza party is good for the soul but constant insulin surges on a daily basis definitely affect mental stamina and long term fitness. Godspeed.

To clarify...we don't work rotating shifts, we're on permanent nights (1945-0600 for them, 1900-0500 for me). But we end up staying late most days, and then they have court during the days often, etc.


One thing that thwarts any kind of off-duty event together is we don't have two group rotations. There is a bank (17 right now) of officers on third shift, and there are 7 groups made up from that bank that work 4 nights on, 3 nights off, but the groups stagger the 4/3. That's a long way of saying, there is no way to do anything with the whole shift, because 10 or so of the 17 will be working on any given night.

Grabbing breakfast after shift is probably the best group event. I will try to do that next week when the kids are back at their mom's.

Another idea is going in once a week or two while my opposite sergeant is supervising and jumping in with one of the officers to do some real police work. I answer calls as I can, but the tempo does not allow for me to do as much teaching with them as I would like. Most nights it's 100% all night long.


Morale isn't in the crapper...it's just hard on them. My old department had THIRTY officers working the same area/population. For us it's 10 on a good night, 4 on my worst night. It's insane. I'm just trying to find ways to A) show appreciation, and B) try to relieve some of the pressure.

I agree with FOOD being a big perk.

Is there any discretionary money available to cater in a breakfast / meal every so often? Subs, CFA platters, pizzas, whatever... It shows someone is appreciating the work being done.

Not in LE - but from my Army experience good food (Army food jokes aside) / even just HOT food can be a big boost.

I am not really a fan of encouraging alcohol consumption in work environments as that is a stumbling block for some people and can open up a pandora's box. But for the right crowd / environment maybe.

Thanks for all you do.

YMMMV--

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Eating food together is a great in many ways. However if the 9 person team is being overworked, perhaps slow the pace down to a more sustainable level. If some calls do not get handled, then perhaps the fat city/county bureaucrats will have to cough up more money for a few more officers.

Do not burn yourself and other officers out because .gov priorities are flawed. Working tired or exhausted leads to injuries and mistakes. Injuries and mistakes are far more costly than having sufficient manpower for the job.

Perhaps bring in a couple of pizza's on 2 or 3 nights to cover all 17 of your officers. Just the small "hey guys I really appreciate all of your hard work out there" can sometimes carry a lot of weight. When I was in patrol, we always would do pizza's, or potluck dinners. Just that 5 minutes of eating pizza together while they rip on the rookie for <insert rookie mistake> or the old guy for not being able to keep up had a nice way to start the shift out strong.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Besides, a Sergeant isn't high enough up the food chain to be handing out money like that, even if it were available (which it isn't).

What, no more skimming off the top? (sarcasm / humor)

Considering your time / work constraints, food / beer / etc seem to be the best options.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Some good suggestions here. But what improved my outlook tremendously was.... Dropping rotating shifts. Shift choice by seniority. IIRC, you have mentioned you guys have an insane rotation. That made for universal shitty attitudes and that went right out on the street.
If you cant pull that off, my outlook was boosted when command staff got up off their ass and then dragged it into a patrol car and actually worked. Took complaints, made arrests and slogged in the trench like the rest of us.
That cheered me up. And our sergeants were slowly having more and more admin BS paperwork foisted off on them, which killed their morale and made it difficult for them to get out of the office and support the troops.
Good luck! Its damn sure tougher out there now then when I worked.

This is a big one, I make a point of visiting my crews in the field whenever I am in town, it give them the chance to talk to me one on one or to joke around with the boss in a "safe" space....sometimes I will grab chick fil a if it's near meal time.

Today one of my kids calls me up....I was running parts out to them because their supervisor was doing something more important (can you say 5G in downtown Indy...shhhhh, it's a secret) and asks me to pick him up smokes as he is 300' in the air......guess what, I grabbed him smokes.

When they see the boss out there with them it means something.

Beer and bitchen' is a tried and true winner as well.

Also make sure they get their atta boys the proper visibility, when my guys do good my VP and sometimes his VP see the emails.....

Free shit or swag, I know it's not always possible but do you have a vendor that might be willing to throw a couple shirts...hats...whatever your way?

It's hard when your guys are busting their asses, my guys are doing 14 hour days ...6 days a week, but you seem to have the right idea and it's what separates you and other bosses

Good luck

Like others, my suggestion does involve food. If you are in a community that supports their police, you might want to try the following.


Think of this as setting up a day for the public to provide their thanks and recognition of your department. You might be able to turn this into an annual event.

I would first reach out to some of your local restaurants and ask them if they would like to help in this. I wouldn't be surprised for you to get offers ranging from free to LEO or at a discount. They can make up for it by selling to the citizens that attend.

If scouting is still a thing in your area, contact one of the leaders and tell them what you are doing. They might have potential Eagle Scouts needing a service project. If not, they used to know how to cook pancakes at the very least.

If you have a local veteran's group, contact them and tell them what you are wanting to do, don't be surprised by their response, as they are some of the people that can really relate to what you are all dealing with.

In trying to get the public to attend from the morning through the evening, you will want a couple of other things for them to do. Maybe the classic bicycle inspection for the kids, or face painting or inflatable playground. Might even want to invite your Fire department and some of their machines. Basically something for kids to spend energy.

For the adults, things like being able to sit in patrol vehicles to see what it is like, especially if you have some cool toys. Another one for the adults would be a raffle. I would not be surprised if your local companies would take care of that for you. Raffle proceeds to go to something for your department. Maybe the proceeds could go to something like a grill for the department to use. Or even the t-shirt suggestions, or jackets that are personalized.


I would check with your local groups like maybe the Elks Lodge (and other community based groups), maybe your Chamber of Commerce would also be able to set up taking care of the public for this event. Also, check with your local churches for help with all of the above as well.

The next step I am suggesting really depends on how your local government handles staffing. So I might miss the particular group you are looking for and I am thinking that you will know where to go.

I would do this after everything else is in place. Contact the group in charge of approving staffing levels, ask them to attend. Ask the Mayor's office/ City Council to attend as well.


Finally, if possible have some on shift personnel be present. Put them where they are noticeable to the public. That makes it so the public has the chance to see and realize what your officers are dealing with in call outs.


If you can put this together, you will be able to accomplish the following:


Gives the community the chance to show their support to the people that protect them. I know that would be nice to see in person. It might also help with strengthening the relationship with the community.


This should make it so that all shifts would be able to attend it and get some food and hopefully some appreciation for what they do.

Finally, who knows, but maybe it can light a fire under the right people (staffing decision makers) to do something and get you the resources you need.


I know that this is a lot, and thinking about each one can be daunting, but I think the good people in your community will take the lead in getting this set up for you and your people, and in a relatively short amount of time.


If all else fails, time off for the officers. You could see if you can get other officers to cover for another. Something like someone gets to work half a shift or even the full day off. You could then have other officers cover. You could have multiple officers cover by having them only work 4 hours of the shift, and then have someone else cover the remaining time. Obviously you can accomplish this using a different amount of time than I suggested.

Also, you could either have the covering officers do it before or after their shifts, or on their day off. If you go with the day off option, you might be able to give day off to the officer either before or at the end of their regular days off. Getting an extra day off along with your regular off days is a nice reward for helping cover.

We did something similar for our supervisors when they had to start working 1 weekend a month. Everyone of those supervisors loved getting that extra day in a row with the others. It made their one 10 hour weekend shift fly by. Benefit for the guys with family was easier to plan activities and trips with their families. Going from the regular 4 on 3 off, and being able to get that 4 day off period at whatever interval it comes is massive for some people, almost a mini vacation without using PTO.

I know this is getting way too long, but I promise this is it for now. Do you have either a good paintball or laser tag place close? Split it up and go with the different shifts. Who wouldn't love a chance to put hits on their boss? Fun activity for everyone and a good way to let off some steam.

I am sorry I am not closer to you, otherwise I would be happy to get this set up for you. I do think though that you will get more help than you ever expected.

Good luck and be safe.