ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Police Department is exploring whether to move officers to 11-hour shifts to beef up the number of officers available for patrol.
Internal memos obtained by 5 On Your Side show meetings are planned this week among commanders to discuss the idea. Right now, officers work eight-hour shifts.
“It’s been in the media that we are understaffed, so any scheduling change that may allow for longer shifts that then may provide for additional coverage are certainly things that we’re going to look at,” said Sgt. Charles Wall, spokesman for the department. “And anything we can do to ensure we make sure we have the right number of officers on the street that are able to respond to calls in a timely manner and provide the service citizens expect and deserve, so certainly we’re looking at every possibility and potential changes to the duration of our shifts is one of those things we’re looking into.”
Chief Robert Tracy told 5 On Your Side in January that the police department has an authorized strength of 1,244, but currently has about 900 officers on its roster.
That shortage has led to districts sometimes only having two cars when there should be 10.
This isn’t the first time St. Louis police have looked at using longer shifts. In 2022 when crime was spiking during the pandemic and warmer weather, Chief John Hayden ordered officers to work 12-hour shifts during the summer months.
Police departments across the country have also gone to variations of extended shifts, ranging from 10, 11 and 12-hour schedules.
St. Louis County police have been working 12-hour shifts since Christmas Day 2022.
The memos show two different proposed 11-hour shift schedules the city police leadership is considering.
One includes four days on and four days off with one six-hour training day included. That would allow officers to work 14 out of 28 days in a period. The other 11-hour proposal includes the same schedule with officers getting every other weekend off.
The proposal also includes a modification to the eight-hour schedules that would allow officers to work six days in a row with two days off initially, then three days off in between.
"It can enhance coverage. There's less commuting. There's extended presence within the community,” said SLU Criminal Justice Associate Professor Kenya Brumfield-Young.
She also points to the possibility of fatigue, especially with a department that's down more than 300 officers. "Which could affect an officer's decision making, reaction time, or just their overall health."
Former St. Louis cop Pierre Cochran worked with the department for three years before resigning and going into sales.
"I think they think raising the hours is a good idea, I just think it will be too much for the officers that are already there,” he said.
He's been in touch with his former colleagues.
"The few that I did speak to, none of them really like the idea of the 11-hour shifts … the fatigue, just thinking about how much harder they would have to work … eight-hour shifts were already typically 10 or 11 hours with that set up, that structure. So going to 11 hours, what are we looking at - 15 hours, 16 hours?"
Walls said any change to officers' shifts won’t happen overnight.
“Any change in our potential schedule may require involvement from the Board of Aldermen, changes to the pay ordinance,” he said. “So these are conversations we’ve begun to have, certainly the City is included in those conversations as well in trying to determine if eight-hour shifts are what’s best for our organization, or if potentially extending those hours and changing those shifts would allow for additional coverage for our patrol functions.”