So Far, LAPD’s Experimental 3-Day Workweek Is Working Out : Personnel: After the first month of 12-hour shifts, morale seems to be improving and sick time and overtime have dropped off. Drawbacks are few.

Los Angeles police officers participating in an experimental three-day workweek are taking fewer sick days and are showing signs of improved morale during the first month of the 16-month pilot program, department officials said Thursday.

So far, three of the city’s four divisions participating in the shortened workweek report a combined 69% decrease in the number of sick days taken. Statistics for the fourth division were unavailable.

An official at one of the stations said the new schedule has reduced overtime and provided more flexibility in deployment.

Patrol officers at Van Nuys, Rampart, Wilshire and Harbor divisions began working three 12-hour shifts a week in January--part of a pilot program long sought by rank-and-file officers and backed by Chief Willie L. Williams. Detectives work four 10-hour shifts. The goal is to cut costs and attrition while boosting morale.

At the Van Nuys Division, officers used six sick days during the first four weeks of the program, compared to 73 sick days for the same period last year.

“The officers love it,” Capt. Richard Eide of the Van Nuys Division said. “After being off for four days they’re in the mood to come back to work.

“Now they can get their business done without having to take a sick day to get a weekday off,” Eide added. “It looks good so far, but these are really early returns and whether they continue remains to be seen.”

At the Harbor Division, patrol officers used only eight sick days during the first four weeks of the pilot program, compared to 50 days for the same period last year, Sgt. Bill Frio said.

Frio said officers working a compressed schedule may be more cautious about taking sick days because they get fewer of them. Previously, patrol officers could use their annual 96 hours of sick leave to take about 12 days off. But working 12-hour shifts, officers can take about eight sick days.

“I think it’s a major factor in cutting down on sick time,” Frio said.

The decrease in sick days was less dramatic at the Wilshire Division, where officers called in sick 37 days during the first four weeks of the new schedule compared to 46 days for the same period last year.

Department officials are hoping that the new schedule will decrease the commuting time of officers, in addition to reducing overtime and attrition.

The drawbacks include a shortage of patrol cars and equipment when extra officers are called in to work, police officials said. In addition, officers complain that they are still routinely called to testify in court on their days off.

“Some of the officers are saying that the courts are not being helpful and some are saying they’re getting more subpoenas,” Capt. Betty Kelepcz of the Harbor Division said. “It’s one of the problems we knew would exist, but quite frankly, the court cases come first.”

Fatigue from working 12-hour shifts is being monitored closely, department officials said. So far, it is not seen as a serious problem.

Despite opposition by some members of his command staff, Williams threw his support behind a test of the shortened workweek.

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At a recent meeting of the department’s upper management, Williams urged his command staff to set aside apprehensions about the pilot program, pointing out that the short workweek was at the top of officers’ wish list--along with better pay. If successful, the schedule could be adopted citywide.

Officials from the department and the police union are monitoring the pilot program, which ends in April, 1996.

Eide said the new schedule has decreased the amount of overtime paid to officers at Van Nuys. That is a key point of contention among some officers, who have voiced concerns about a decrease in overtime pay.

Overtime accumulated by officers working past the end of their shifts dropped 22% in the first four weeks of the new schedule compared to the previous four weeks, Eide said. Overtime paid for missed meals dropped 87% during the same period.

The new schedule also provides greater flexibility in deploying patrol officers because they now must work an average of one extra day every month because they work four fewer hours each week.

At the Harbor Division, Kelepcz said some officers used their extra day to receive more training while others worked special details in neighborhoods plagued by drunk driving, auto thefts or vandalism.

Eide said his officers used their extra day for training. He said that during the summer he plans to use the extra days to assign officers to foot beats at neighborhood parks. He said that in the fall he will have officers talk to residents about domestic violence and crime prevention.