By Jeff A. Chamer
The Charlotte Observer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police leaders are planning to launch a pilot program that bumps the shifts of some patrol officers from 10 hours to 12 hours, according to the local Fraternal Order of Police.
The pilot program was announced in an email from Police Chief Johnny Jennings, said Charlotte FOP President Daniel Redford.
Redford said his understanding is that the test program will start early next year for 90 days in two divisions that are busy and understaffed. After that, police leaders would decide whether to adopt 12-hour shifts across the department, he said.
Evan White, the CMPD public affairs manager, said Thursday that no one from the department had comment.
Pros and cons of 12 hours
“It’s going to give them a couple of extra days off,” Redford said of 12-hour shifts. “But … it gives fewer hours in between shifts for recuperation, and less time at home.”
Some officers are concerned about exhaustion, custody issues, and taking care of their family, Redford said. It’s unclear how 12-hour shifts might affect overtime options for officers, he said.
Redford said he believes the possible shift changes are meant to fix problems from staffing shortages at CMPD. But even under a different structure, he said, officers will continue to feel stretched and too often pulled for events and rallies.
Under the pilot program, officers working the new 12-hour shifts would get about 24 more days off per year in exchange for the extra two hours per shift, Redford said.
Some officers in the Winston-Salem Police Department shifted to 12-hour workdays in August 2023, according to WXII 12, to address staffing shortages. Officer shifts there increased by one hour.
The St. Louis County Police Department in Missouri shifted to 12-hour days for some officers in 2022, according to a report from St. Louis Public Radio. A year later, St. Louis Public Radio reported, a survey found 70% of officers liked the new shifts.
The Charlotte FOP said in a social media post that after speaking with and surveying 470 members — the majority of whom said they opposed 12-hour shifts — a vote was taken this month to oppose the shift changes.
But it’s not that officers are completely against the idea of 12-hour shifts, Redford said. It’s the lack of information.
“When the FOP talks to officers and tells them how it could roll out, they’re a little more receptive to it,” Redford said. “But there’s still hesitation.”
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