Overworked cops try out 8-hour shifts

Overworked Mumbai police will have some respite in the coming months, as the department is trying out a fixed eight-hour shift for its personnel.

The pilot project for the same has been rolled out in Deonar police station. At an average a cop puts in 13-14 hours of work everyday, leading to stress and also no time for his/her family.

“The constabulary and the officers themselves have come up with the suggestion. After looking through the proposal we are implementing the same, first at Deonar and others may follow, “ said Mumbai police commissioner, Datta Padsalgikar.

Sources inform that this is not the first time that the department has thought of implementing the eight-hour shift for police. Nearly 20 years ago too, it had been experimented within some police stations falling under Zone 1 of the Mumbai police. But this had failed due to some internal problems.

“If an officer reports to work at about 11 am then if he has an eight-hour duty it will end at about 7 pm. But suppose an incident is reported just before he leaves, then he has to stay back and work and that means he puts in four to five hours more,” Mr Padsalgikar said.

He added that the new work hour has to be implemented by trial and error. “Since the police personnel themselves want this to work, I am sure it will succeed. We will be rolling it out in two phases depending on its success,” he said. Police stations like Marine Drive, VP Road, DB Marg will have to implement the eight-hour shift keeping in mind their regular bandobast duties.

Sources said that if successfully brought about, the rule will help bring down the number of health issues that afflict police personnel. Talking about the same, Mr Padsalgikar mentioned that in his monthly meeting with officers, health issues form the priority.

“I meet nearly 300 personnel every month to hear out their problems and discuss their work. Out of these at least 20-25 of them complain of having to do stressful duties soon after surgeries and operations like bypass. We try to accommodate their health needs immediately,” he said.

Sources said that last year around 63 police died due to heart-related problems.