SLTPD changes hours to put more officers on streets
South Lake Tahoe patrol officers are switching from four 10-hour shifts to three 12-hour shifts.
Police Chief Brian Uhler said this would provide better coverage on the streets as well as save the city money when it comes to overtime.
He told the City Council last week he expects the savings to be $25,000 a year, while the police association believes the savings to be $90,000 per year.
Mayor Claire Fortier and Councilman Tom Davis expressed concerns about fatigue and insisted Uhler report back in three and six months about how the change in hours is working – in terms of fatigue and if money is being saved.
This is not the first time, though, that SLTPD has worked 12-hour shifts.
The four hours officers will get paid for but are not scheduled to be on the street will in part be used when they need to work overtime, as well as for training hours.
— Kathryn Reed
If it’s already been tried, that may mean that it didn’t work, or we might still be using that system. My guess is that it would be difficult to work three 12 hr shifts and expect to be up to speed on what’s happening after 4 days off. It would be interesting to know when it was tried before, how many times and for how long. Also why this schedule plan was abandoned.
What? The math does not add up. They will be working 4 less hours (each) yet we are supposed to believe that there will be better coverage? I wish we could all work less and make the same paycheck!
You said it Kat! Same pay, less hours, and they’ll still try to claim they’re understaffed!
Please watch the City Council meeting from July 17th. You can choose to watch this segment only on your computer, so it won’t take a lot of time.
It was tried before, always when the department was understaffed, like it is now. It worked, with the idea being 12 on, 12 off to avoid fatigue as much as possible. Right now, we are paying a lot of overtime as officers have to stay over to finish an issue or to help with a problem that crops up when there aren’t enough officers for the streets.
The four extra hours will be “banked” so to speak so we can use them when the city is “full,” like 4th of July or New Year’s.
The idea is public safety – with 5 officers instead of 3 on the streets at any given time. It is not the preference of the officers.