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Night Shift In Law Enforcement

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Night Shift In Law Enforcement
Day Shift Versus Night Shift in Law Enforcement Think about it for a second when something bad happens who are the people that get called first, your local law enforcement officers. There are people from dispatchers to the patrol itself working all day, and all night to ensure the safety of communities. Being in a career field that requires someone to be working at all times throughout the day one often wonders the effects it has on someone. During the day there are so many benefits that are available to you and during the night there are certain benefits to you. Although there are many benefits to working both shifts, there can be some that outweigh the others. One of the major factors in a law enforcement officer’s lifestyle is depicted …show more content…
It is all fun and games until someone’s sleep is ruined. As someone who has worked as a law enforcement officer who has worked both shifts I can say there are benefits to working day shift and to working night shift. During the day, there are people out and there is the opportunity to conduct more community policing. It enables day shift workers by allowing patrolman to have rapport and trust within their community when they are out building relationships. When working day shift you have the same sleep schedule as many other personnel. Day shift workers are awake when places are open and sleeping when they are closed. For many families working day shift works a lot better because kids get up in the morning and go to school. By the time they get off from school, a patrol man could be getting off from their shift. Working the night shift, it could have a toll on relationship with one’s family. A night shift worker’s family is getting up for their day as they are going to sleep. It could mean missing out on important family milestones, because of sleeping. As a night shift worker you typically are asleep when shops or places are open, therefore if needing to go to a place during sleeping hours one must adjust sleep schedules. The benefit of working night shift is it enables personnel to be awake during the night so going out on the town isn’t an …show more content…
During the day people are in sync with their internal clock. It is a lot easier for day workers to function just as everyone else does in the world. Many people are day workers, and day working is normal for your body therefore there are not many health effects that can be imposed. As for night shift workers, there are many health effects that can be affected. People with shift work disorder have higher rates of absenteeism and accidents related to sleepiness than night workers without the disorder.(Kam, 2011) People are always warned when they are told they are working night shift is to not live to far from their job, because they will get home when the sun is coming up. The sun coming up will have some serious effect on the brain when trying to go to sleep. Doctors can also prescribe medication that will help night shift workers sleep and there are over the counter medication that is available. However, taking sleep medication can definitely affect your health. For people working during the night there are better chances of them falling asleep which can create an accident. Factors such as age, location and the hours of the job are what need to be taken into consideration when taking a job with unusual work hours. It is a lot easier for a younger person to adjust to working during the evening than it is for an older person. A patrol man is better off sticking with a work time rather than switching back

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