Live Oak police officers will continue serving 12-hour shifts that have been a morale booster and could become a recruiting tool for the city, according to city officials.
Police Chief Dan Pue spoke to Live Oak City Council at its Dec. 8 meeting about the department’s move from 8-hour to 12-hour shifts.
“This 12-hour shift has turned out to beneficial to the city for this,” Pue said. “It’s not adding employees, it’s just doing a promotion of a sergeant and a corporal at minimal cost. It’s worked out great for them at this time.”
City Manager Scott Wayman said exit interviews with three departing officers shed light on officer dissatisfaction with the city’s then-established eight-hour shifts. The three were leaving for jobs with 10- or 12-hour shifts that, among other things, afforded them more time off to be with their families.
Pue told council that the city’s patrol division is made up of 24 police officers with three sergeants and three corporals. The department had been working regular eight-hour shifts.
But early in 2020, staffing dropped to minimum levels due to attrition and a poor applicant hiring pool, Pue said, making it difficult to maintain adequate personnel across three shifts.
“The command staff reached out to officers for ideas to attract quality applicants,” Pue said. “One of the recurring themes was the shift hours we were working. Most patrol officers stated the preferred to work a 12-hour shift.”
Staff made a temporary change to 12-hour shifts in March to see what the affects would be.
“We wanted to make sure that every shift has a sergeant and a corporal on it. Those officers come to work and they see their same sergeants and corporals every day,” Wayman said. “It’s added a sense of stability.”
Once the switch was made from 8-to-12-hour shifts, officers “realized it’s not the hardship they might have thought it was going to be. They get every other weekend off to spend with their families as a result,” Wayman added.
Pue said morale increased as a result. Overtime expenditures and comp time accrual decreased. The department realized better shift coverage while maintaining SWAT and K-9 training.
And since the change, Pue said, “potential employees have inquired about the city’s 12-hour shifts,” a boon in recruitment for filling any vacancies.
In deciding to make the move permanent, a fourth shift was necessary. Current staff will be promoted to fill the necessary sergeant and corporal slots at no additional cost. Officers were already receiving a boost in pay to satisfy the two additional supervisory positions.
“We’ve really had no complaints on this round,” Wayman said. “People understand that we need our shifts covered, and they are willing to step up and help.”
Council unanimously supported making the transition to the 12-hour shifts permanent and applauded the promotions of two patrol officers to supervisory positions without costing the city additional money.
jflinn@express-news.net
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