Fatigue and short-term unplanned absences among police officers

• Published date: 28 April 2020
• Pages: 483-494
• Date: 28 April 2020
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-10-2019-0165
• Author: Samantha Riedy,Drew Dawson,Desta Fekedulegn,Michael Andrew,Bryan Vila,John M. Violanti
• Subject Matter: Public policy & environmental management,Policing,Criminal justice,Juvenile/youth crime,Police studies,Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Criminology & criminal justice

Fatigue and short-term unplanned

absences among police officers

Samantha Riedy

Sleep and Performance Research Center, Washington State University, Spokane,

Washington, USA and

Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, Washington State University, Spokane,

Washington, USA

Drew Dawson

Appleton Institute, Central Queensland University, Wayville, Australia

Desta Fekedulegn and Michael Andrew

Bioanalytics Branch, Health Effects Laboratory Division,

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health,

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA

Bryan Vila*

Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Washington State University,

Spokane, Washington, USA and

Sleep and Performance Research Center, Washington State University, Spokane,

Washington, USA, and

John M. Violanti*

Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and

Health Professions, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo,

New York, USA

Abstract

Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to assess whether shift work, sleep loss and fatigue are related to short-

term unplanned absences in policing.

Design/methodology/approach –N5367 police officers from the Buffalo Police Department were studied.

Day-by-day work and sick leave data were obtained from the payroll. Absenteeism was defined as taking a

single sick day on a regularly scheduled workday. Biomathematical models of fatigue (BMMF) predicted

officers’sleep–wake behaviors and on-duty fatigue and sleepiness. Prior sleep, fatigue and sleepiness were

tested as predictors of absenteeism during the next shift.

Findings –A total of 513,666 shifts and 4,868 cases of absenteeism were studied. The odds of absenteeism

increased as on-duty fatigue and sleepiness increased and prior sleep decreased. This was particularly

evident for swing shift officers and night shift officers who were predicted by BMMF to obtain less sleep

and have greater fatigue and sleepiness than day shift officers. The odds of absenteeism were higher for

female officers than male officers; this finding was not due to a differential response to sleep loss, fatigue or

sleepiness.

Fatigue and

absenteeism

483

Support: The Buffalo Cardio-Metabolic Occupational Police Stress study was funded by CDC/NIOSH

grant 1R01OH009640-01A1 and NIJ grant 2005-FS-BX-0004.

*Shared senior authorship.

We thank InterDynamics for providing the first-author with a FAID Quantum Research License.

Disclosure statement: Drew Dawson, PhD derives income from royalties associated with the use of

FAID Quantum. The remaining authors do not have any disclosures to report. The findings and

conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of

the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/1363-951X.htm

Received 23 October 2019

Revised 10 February 2020

Accepted 19 February 2020

Policing: An International Journal

Vol. 43 No. 3, 2020

pp. 483-494

© Emerald Publishing Limited

1363-951X

DOI 10.1108/PIJPSM-10-2019-0165