Some Police Begin 3-Day Workweek : LAPD: Van Nuys and three other divisions put officers on compressed schedule in a yearlong effort to raise morale and lower costs.

Patrol officers from four Los Angeles Police Department divisions, including one in the San Fernando Valley, began their first three-day, 36-hour workweek on Sunday as part of an experiment that officials hope will boost morale and decrease attrition rates.

Under the yearlong program, officers at the Van Nuys, Rampart, Wilshire and Harbor divisions will take the new 12-hour shifts while detectives work four 10-hour days. If the program is successful, officials say the compressed schedule will be implemented throughout the department.

They believe the new schedule--unlike the usual five-day, 40-hour week--will cut department costs, decrease commuting hours and provide officers with more time to spend with their families. They hope it will curb burnout.

“It’s a morale booster. . . . It makes for happier employees, which makes for better service,” said LAPD Capt. Richard Eide of the Van Nuys Division.

A committee appointed by Chief Willie L. Williams studied other departments that adopted the compressed schedule and found that fewer officers have resigned since the programs began.

At the Van Nuys Division on Sunday, there were a few skeptics, but most officers were enthusiastic about the change. Notwithstanding the occasional stretch and yawn at the 6 a.m. roll call, officers said they welcomed the four days off.

“I think it’ll work. It’ll be better for the family . . . more time for personal things,” Van Nuys Officer Ron Stilz said.

An unusually high number of officers have called the Van Nuys Division to request transfers since they heard about the pilot program, Eide said.

But some officers have expressed concern about the fatigue such a lengthy shift might cause. “I’m keeping an open mind, but I don’t know,” said Officer Martin Whitfield of the Van Nuys Division. “Three 12-hour shifts is no walk in the park.”

Whitfield also questioned the intentions of the new shift, saying its length will decrease the amount of overtime officers could get. “Overtime is good for officers. They’ve taken that away,” he said.

Indeed, the shift has cut back on overtime in other departments, Eide said. “After 12 hours, I want them to finish and go home.”

Deputy Chief Martin Pomeroy of the LAPD’s Valley Bureau, chairman of the committee that designed the “3-12” plan, expects it to take at least three months before the department can begin measuring the results through crime rates, response times and morale. “Don’t judge the 3-12 plan on how you feel at the end of your shift today,” he told officers.

In a related development Sunday, the department implemented its realignment of divisional boundaries in another effort to strengthen its community-policing strategy.

Officials said the realignment is designed to encompass entire communities whose coverage was divided between two divisions. The boundary shifts will create a closer relationship between residents and the station patrolling their area, officials said.