Policing is a 24-hour business, hence shift work will always be required. However, it isn’t natural for humans to be awake through the night; this is when people usually experience sleepiness, so staying awake and trying to operate safely around the clock can be challenging.

Along with the circadian challenges, shift work is associated with adverse long-term health well-being issues, such as gastrointestinal problems, psychological conditions, and even cancer.¹ In addition, it is associated with an increased risk of workplace accidents and adverse incidents and lower job satisfaction. These outcomes have been linked to insufficient sleep, so prioritizing sleep for shift work is a must.²

Sleep Needs

Sleep is a body’s recovery process from fatigue and sleepiness, and good sleep is essential to normal brain function, cognitive performance, good health, and well-being.³ Sleep is a complex state, characterized by a loss of conscious awareness, a reduction in responsiveness, and a lack of physical activity.⁴ It serves multiple purposes and there are changes to numerous physiological processes during sleep, such as lowering of heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature.⁵ However, the organ showing most changes when asleep is the brain, and most parts of the brain are active during sleep.⁶ For example, the brain controls the transition between sleep and wakefulness and sends signals to relax the muscles, controlling limb movements and posture. This assists in generally preventing people from physically acting out their dreams.⁷

Almost all humans experience sleepiness at least once in any 24-hour period, and, as a result, sleep usually occurs regularly in that 24-hour period, typically at night. The need for sleep varies considerably across individuals.⁸ However, sleep generally dominates around one-third of people’s lives, and adult humans generally need between seven and nine hours of sleep per night.⁹ Loss of regular sleep can result in changes in mood and hormone rhythms, as well as cognitive impairment.¹⁰