# best schedule to have??



## FoxRidersgrl87 (Aug 7, 2008)

this is random but im sitting at work, bored out of my miiind. just wondering what most departments have for a schedule. im not a cop, merely a dispatcher , but i have a 4-2 with rotating days off...straight overnights. is this the norm? i know our guys work a night/overnight split shift, so is that how it's usually done? again, just wondering


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## Guest (Aug 7, 2008)

I come and go as I please....... Best schedule evah !


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## lpwpd722 (Jun 13, 2006)

Hey Snipe, how do you get that schedule? I'd like to try that one.


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## 7costanza (Aug 29, 2006)

> [m not a cop, merely a dispatcher First off your job is very important, dont forget that!! I find the best schedule to be the one that best suits your personal life..being able to see your familey and friends but still make a good paycheck...


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## Tuna (Jun 1, 2006)

Right now I'm out IOD, not a bad schedule.


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## lpwpd722 (Jun 13, 2006)

It took me almost 10 years to get Mon thru Fri days. Sometime you just don't have a choice as to what shift you get. The only good things about the 2nd, 3rd and weekend shifts is that it is busier. Thank you 7 for saying that. Dispatchers do have an important job but you guys put your life on the line day after day.


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## adroitcuffs (Jun 3, 2006)

7costanza said:


> > Im not a cop, merely a dispatcher
> 
> 
> First off your job is very important, dont forget that!! I find the best schedule to be the one that best suits your personal life..being able to see your familey and friends but still make a good paycheck...


Agreed, on both counts. Dispatchers are a very important part of the family!!
I used to love working the overnight shift (my favorite - 1600 to 0400 hrs), but now that I'm involved in so many things on my days off, I found that nights became way too hard on the personal life. For now, my dept. has a choice between 10 hr shifts, four days a week, or 13 hr shifts, three days a week with a "make up day" about once a month. Either way, you always have the same days off, and we bid for shifts quarterly. Really, it's whatever works best for you!


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## lpwpd722 (Jun 13, 2006)

I like those options, especially the 13 hr days. Does it work out well and how long have you gone w/that type of schedule? How many people do you need to make that work?


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## FoxRidersgrl87 (Aug 7, 2008)

thanks guys. ah i would kill for that 13 hr shift. as for the overnights, i really dont mind them that much..actually kinda like them!

and i was just being a wise ass with the "just a dispatcher" comment  im proud of what i do. thanks again~


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## Guest (Aug 8, 2008)

mtc said:


> I work mids - 11-7, 4/2 and have for 8 years total. (I did a year on days to force ex hubby to be more involved with the kids - yeah that failed)
> 
> For me, mids is the best shift, though my seniority would let me work any shift I choose - mids lets me be home for the kids various daytime emergencies.
> 
> ...


days........ nights..... either way you are looking out for your "kids". some are just not related by blood. thanks for all that you do.


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## Guest (Aug 8, 2008)

Right now I work 4-Midnight and love it; you can work details or attend family functions during the day, call volume is high so it rarely gets boring, and the night differential is nice. Then again, my kids start full-day school (1st grade) next year, so a change might be mandated then so I can spend time with them.

When I was single and in my 20's, I loved the first/last rotation, but I don't think I could do it now as I inch towards my mid-40's. I'd explain the rotation, but I don't feel like getting a headache right now.


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## Barbrady (Aug 5, 2004)

12 hr. rotating..6-6 (Two weeks days, two weeks nights..w/ every other weekend off).


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## Barbrady (Aug 5, 2004)

USMCMP5811 said:


> Man, that must screw up your sleep schedule


It does. No shift diff incentive either..


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## dave7336 (Mar 25, 2006)

during the summer months I try to work the 2 days on and 4 days off schedule..nothing like swapping shifts and vacation days


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## CPT Chaos (Mar 1, 2006)

RETIRED!!!!!

Ask me in 18 years and I'll tell you all about it!


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## LA Copper (Feb 11, 2005)

The vast majority of our detectives work a 4/10 schedule with weekends and holidays off, although there are three detectives assigned to work nights and weekends at each division.

All of our patrol work a 3/12 schedule. The best thing about our days off is that we can pick what days off we want (for the most part) rather than being told what days off we're going to have.

We work off a 28 day deployment period (DP). On a 3/12 schedule, that gives us 13 working days and 15 days off. Prior to the start of the next DP, we put in a days off request slip and pick whatever days off we want! 

We also don't have to stay on midnights for years if we don't want to. No matter how much time you have on the job, you can still move around to a different watch every six months if you so desire. This is good for morale and allows you to have different experiences. For example, there aren't too many bank robberies working midnights and there aren't too many drive by shootings at noon (although there are some).


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## robodope (Aug 31, 2003)

We have 4 days on 4 days off schedule. You work 10 Hr days and every shift is overlapping. When I come in at 9p to work 9p to 7a there is already a shift on so every shift overlaps giving the dept coverage at the busiest times. It took a while getting used to 10 hrs days but once you do having 4 days off is nice.


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## MDSP2597 (Jun 12, 2006)

I'm going to make all of you jealous right now.... 
This is the schedule I work.... 
[7] (wed-wed) 11-7; 
[4] days off; 
[5] (mon-fri) 3-11; 
[2] days off; 
[4] (mon-thur) 7-3 [3] (fri-sun) 3-11; 
[3] days off; 
[5] (thur-mon) 7-3; 
[2] days off 
Repeat from the top.... This is the schedule all the guys that work the road follow..... I told you I would make you jealous, NOT!!!!!


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## Guest (Aug 11, 2008)

MDSP2597 said:


> I'm going to make all of you jealous right now....
> This is the schedule I work....
> [7] (wed-wed) 11-7;
> [4] days off;
> ...


Who the hell thought up that clusterfuck??


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## 7costanza (Aug 29, 2006)

Jealous....my fuckin head is spinning, I cant even figure that out.....


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## USMCTrooper (Oct 23, 2003)

I'm scheduled to work 3-11; 3-11; 7-3; 7-3; then get 2 days off but I have to carry DCS so it ends up being 16 hour days.

We also do week long on call stints every 3 weeks, Sat - Sat.


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## MDSP2597 (Jun 12, 2006)

Delta the response we get is "that's the way we've always done it" when we ask to change the schedule. Basically, they want us out on the road as much as possible. They don't like us having too much time off, and they wonder why we are losing people left and right! 
There was a LtCol, he's long gone now, said he would assign guys over an hour away from their homes "because that's two extra hours we get out of them".

7costanza your head is spinning and my body doesn't know what the hell to do as for a sleep pattern. We've had health professionals come in a tell the job that the schedule we work is horrible for our health, yet no change has been made. Oh we do studies, but it never goes anywhere.


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## 7costanza (Aug 29, 2006)

That sucks, we work 13 hrs a day, usually 5 or 6 days a week...and Im feeling pretty good about my schedule now..atleast we can get in some sort of regualr pattern. I feel for you, cant your union do anything about those hrs...


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## dcs2244 (Jan 29, 2004)

USMCTrooper said:


> I'm scheduled to work 3-11; 3-11; 7-3; 7-3; then get 2 days off but I have to carry DCS so it ends up being 16 hour days.
> 
> We also do week long on call stints every 3 weeks, Sat - Sat.


If it hadn't been for me, this guy would be sitting around a gin mill telling anyone who would listen "...I coulda been a cop..."


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## MDSP2597 (Jun 12, 2006)

7costanza; to give you the short answer to your question, no. The state has all the power and can do whatever it wants to us. We have to grin and take it.


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## Guest (Aug 12, 2008)

MDSP2597 said:


> 7costanza; to give you the short answer to your question, no. The state has all the power and can do whatever it wants to us. We have to grin and take it.


Don't you have collective bargaining, or is Maryland a "right to work" state?


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## MDSP2597 (Jun 12, 2006)

Yes it does! Delta check your pm.


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## Guest (Aug 13, 2008)

dispatchers got it best


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## Barbrady (Aug 5, 2004)

freedom said:


> dispatchers got it best


Not ours they are aligned with a patrol platoon and follow same shift/days.


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