PORTAGE | For the last seven months, Portage police patrol officers have been working under a new schedule.

While it seems to be working, Police Chief Cliff Burch said this past week it's still too early to determine if the changes will be made permanent.

"Seven months into it, it seems to work well, but it is too soon to say if it is successful," said Burch, who wants to run the new schedule on a trial basis for another year.

Traditionally, patrol officers have worked a rotation of three shifts: days, 3 to 11 p.m. and midnights.

The constantly changing routine, Burch said, can take a toll on the health of officers.

Last fall, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 145 sent a letter to Burch asking him to consider a change. Burch said he and FOP representatives agreed on a new scheduling system.

The beginning of the year, officers had a choice. They could chose between working a rotating schedule of days and 3 to 11 p.m. or choose to work midnights.

"Surprisingly, we had 15 officers request midnights," Burch said.

After the requests, Burch said, there were other considerations, such as balancing seniority on a shift and making sure not too many specialty team members were represented on one shift.

Currently, there now are three shifts of nine officers working days and 3 to 11 p.m. and 13 on the midnight shift. There are 40 officers in the patrol department.

"The overall consensus with the officers is that they are extremely happy. There's been nothing but positives," Burch said.

He said it was an issue the department looked at four or five years ago, but at the time, there weren't enough officers on the department to effectively make the change. Detectives changed their schedules about two years ago, working four 10-hour days instead of five eight-hour days.

While Burch said he doesn't have any quantitative data, he believes the schedule switch so far has improved the health and morale of department members.

It's a benefit to residents, too, he said, especially during the midnight shift when more crime tends to happen. With a core group of officers on midnights, they tend to know their areas better and are more aware of their surroundings and potential problems.

Effects of shift work

- Sleep: Both permanent night workers and rotating shift workers sleep worse when working nights. Rotating shift workers sleep the least.

- Circadian rhythm: It is the major body rhythm that goes through regular ups and downs in a 24-hour day. If a worker has lost sleep and is working at night, fatigue could combine with the circadian low-point to double the effect on productivity and safety.

- Social and family life: When shift workers are asked about problems with their work schedule, they usually say that the No. 1 problem is missing family and friends.

- Health effects: Workers who quit doing shift work often point to health problems as a major reason for quitting. Plus, a stressful schedule can combine with other factors to hurt a person's health.

Source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health