VENTURA : Council OKs Police 3-Day Workweek

Beginning next month, Ventura police officers will have more days off each week than they work.

Under a new schedule approved Monday night by the City Council, most police officers will work three 12 1/2-hour shifts a week and another 10 hours every month.

The plan was proposed by Chief Richard Thomas, who told the council that the schedule change would cut down on overtime and boost morale. Council members agreed.

“It’s an important stress-reducer,” Councilman Steve Bennett said before Monday’s meeting. “Most people underestimate the impact of constantly changing shifts that police have to work on.”

The change is expected to affect only the department’s 60 beat officers. Administrators and detectives will still work 10-hour shifts four days a week.

Bennett said that because many officers are constantly assigned to different shifts--day, evening and graveyard schedules--their family lives often suffer.

“You’re always in an abnormal sleep cycle,” Bennett said. “Most of us don’t want a job where we have to make a split-second decision whether to kill someone” under those conditions.

The schedule change, approved by the police union, becomes effective July 15. Councilman Gary Tuttle said he would watch the new schedule closely and consider asking the council to change it back if it does not prove effective.