Public Safety Reports

Police Operations and Data Analysis Report, Morgan Hill, California

Schedule and Staffing

General patrol operations in the department are staffed using two 12-hour shifts. There are four

platoons, with one sergeant and one corporal in charge of each platoon. Each shift is supervised by

a sergeant and if the assigned sergeant is on vacation, or not present for any reason, the master

corporal assumes responsibility for the platoon. The day platoons work from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.,

and the night platoons work 7:00 p.m. until 7:00 a.m. A limited number of officers assigned to the

night platoons work from 4:00 p.m. until 4:00a.m., seven days per week. This is an excellent

allocation of resources to provide additional staffing during peak work hours.

Officers work a shift rotation with a combination of three-day and four-day work weeks. For

example, Teams A and C will be assigned to work from Sunday to Tuesday (three days) one week,

while Teams B and D work from Wednesday to Saturday (four-days) that same week, thus

providing seven day coverage. The next week the teams essentially swap working Wednesday;

Teams A and C work Sunday to Wednesday (four days) and Teams B and D work Thursday to

Saturday (three days). This cycle repeats every two weeks.

The 12-hour shift schedule used by the department offers both advantages and disadvantages. The

advantage of this shift is that it separates the patrol function into evenly staffed platoons. As the

platoons rotate in and out of their schedule, the department has a uniform and predictable

deployment of officers on patrol at all times. The 12-hour configuration also works evenly into the

24-hour day and there are not excessive overlaps in staffing. These benefits, however, are the

extent of the advantages of the 12-hour shift as deployed by the department.

One of the disadvantages of this schedule is the rotation from day to night. If a shift maintains

consistent start and end times it is less disruptive on the lives of the officers working it. However,

rotating start times from day to night and back on a regular basis has been found to be the most

counterproductive arrangement and the one with the most negative personal side effects to the

officers working the rotation. The damaging part of shift work, therefore, is not length of shift, but

the rotation from night to day and vice versa.

Police departments around the country recognize the negative impact of rapid change in shift start

times by extending the period in between the switch from day to night starts through the use of a

“shift bid” policy. Under such a policy, officers would work one set shift for an extended duration.

Departments around the country have used annual, semi-annual, and quarterly time frames. The

“bidding” process generally works on a seniority basis, with some consideration given to officers

who do not get their preferred pick multiple times (e.g., after two unsuccessful bids the officer is

guaranteed to get his or her preference). Officers, under this type of system, could maintain their

existing schedule or change it to meet their individual needs. This builds in not only flexibility, but

makes it less disruptive on the lives of the officers. In January 2014, MHPD implemented a policy of

extending the duration of shift time changes to a minimum of six months. This an excellent

development and the MHPD should continue to embrace this plan.

Another disadvantage to the current schedule is the uniform staffing level present throughout the

day. Under the current schedule, with each platoon equally staffed, there are equal numbers of