Police officers working the night shift are significantly more likely to suffer long-term on-the-job injuries than officers on day and afternoon shifts, according to a new study co-authored by Bryan Vila, professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology and the Sleep and Performance Research Center at WSU Spokane.
According to the research, independent of age and gender, urban officers working nights were three times more likely than those on the day shift, and 2.2 times more likely than those on the afternoon shift, to suffer injuries resulting in leaves of more than 90 days.