How much downtime do officers have on their shift?

[primalclaws1974]

I realize duties will vary with each police department, but I am just trying to get a feel for it as a whole. I notice in my hometown of 10,000 that the police seem to have plenty of time to set up speed traps. Oftentimes I see them parked side-by-side, talking. I am just curious if they are required to drive a certain amount of miles a day or must make check-ins at the station or at certain patrol points? In a shift, how much work is required of them (I mean on an average day, without a major incident)?

 

[milyjohnson]

I have wondered that too. In my city, there are a lot of people so there should be plenty to do, yet I have seen cops sitting in their cars talking. The same thing happens in the city I work. They drive around the parking lot and then they sit side by side and talk to each other. I guess there must be a lot of downtime in between crimes.

 

[laurelbell85]

I have to wonder this same thing. The cops around me are constantly just sitting around not doing much of anything. They are usually in 2's though...sitting side by side talking at intersections. Do they consider that "traffic control" since most drivers will slow down or take that extra second to make that turn on red. However, then I have noticed...when I break down on the side of the road...when a cop will drive by and I flag them down..I get the whole "I'm busy, but I'm sure another cop will be by and you can ask them." I live in Florida...and 95% of all the cops here are crooked.

 

[Nate5]

I see that no police officer has answered this, but I am curious as well. I feel like they probably do a lot of work but we don't pay attention, but we tend to see these "lazy" times and we remember them. It's kind of like watching construction workers. Some don't seem to be doing anything when you pass by, but what you don't know is that the situation usually only allows for one person to be working at a time. I would love to hear an answer from a real cop though.

 

[greensat]

I'm pretty sure I've been influenced by social media and TV media coverage and also cartoons to think that police actually have a lot of free time and they're sitting in cars on the side of streets, eating donuts. Or some are even lying in the darkness of corners and trying to catch people speeding. Do they get extra money if they were the one who caught them speeding? Seems like an incentive for every police man to start hiding and to catch people driving fast.

 

[primalclaws1974]

I see that no police officer has answered this, but I am curious as well. I feel like they probably do a lot of work but we don't pay attention, but we tend to see these "lazy" times and we remember them. It's kind of like watching construction workers. Some don't seem to be doing anything when you pass by, but what you don't know is that the situation usually only allows for one person to be working at a time. I would love to hear an answer from a real cop though.

The construction worker analogy is very good. Because the next time you go by you do see how much work they did, and realize they must not be slacking off after all. I am not trying to imply police are lazy or not doing their job. But yes, seeing endless speed traps, but no action on their part does make one think they are in there playing games on their smart phone, which is almost certainly not true.

 

[SamClemensMT]

I'm guessing that the week kind of balances out. Same as any job. There will be quiet times and busy times. There no need to drive around looking for trouble. It will always announce itself.

 

[primalclaws1974]

I'm guessing that the week kind of balances out. Same as any job. There will be quiet times and busy times. There no need to drive around looking for trouble. It will always announce itself.

I would have to disagree about no need to drive around. There is a need. It is called patrolling. I don't know for sure, but I assume they have to log a certain amount of miles on each shift. Does anyone know if this is true or not? I do sometimes see police cars moving through the oddest places. One place the police love to drive through here is the Wal-Mart parking lot. I also saw them driving through a car sales lot on Christmas, during the day. I don't know if they were just browsing and dreaming or if they were patrolling on that one though.

 

[LitoLawless]

I wouldn't think that they have that much ACTUAL downtime. I think that downtime comes in the form of walking around the city during patrol, or even when they are just standing around. Don't get me wrong, I DO think that they are alert and attentive. Although, when you get really good at paying attention (which a lot of these cops do) then you can pay attention without REALLY looking like you're paying attention.