Woodland Park veterinarian now has a good kidney, too<\/a><\/p>\nKenney, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said they determined that 12-hour shifts have benefits over\u00a010-hour shifts and eight-hour shifts.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n
For example, fewer shifts with more time between them gives officers more recovery time.<\/p>\n
“Most cops are working extra security details, taking college classes and have family issues,” Kenney said, so working every day tends to wear them down. “Twelve-hour shifts mean more blocks of free time.”<\/p>\n
The schedule seems to\u00a0appeal to younger officers, the chief said.<\/p>\n
The Pitman schedule is popular among departments in New Jersey, with Clifton and Denville among those employing it, although it’s difficult to pinpoint how many departments use it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Can Pitman schedule save money?<\/h2>\n
Woodland Park Mayor Keith Kazmark told the department’s leadership, other than taxpayer interests, “he didn’t have a dog in this fight.”<\/p>\n
“Just make sure it is revenue neutral,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In turns out that the schedule will reduce staffing costs slightly in the first year, and probably more in the second, with savings starting at around\u00a0$10,000.<\/p>\n
The borough budgets around $120,000 for overtime and the hope is to see\u00a0a reduction in that as well, Kazmark said.<\/p>\n
Kenney concurred, saying\u00a0their studies found that overtime tends to be greatly reduced when departments go to 12-hour shifts.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And there’s a bonus for residents under the Pitman schedule:\u00a0The department is able to put\u00a0more officers on street during busiest times. That happens because there are more officers on duty when there are more shifts, officials said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Matt Fagan is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community,\u00a0please subscribe or activate your digital account today.<\/em><\/p>\nEmail:\u00a0fagan@northjersey.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nTwitter:\u00a0@fagan_nj<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n