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Officer Health

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Sleep Deprivation And Gentle Reminders Have Opposite Effects On Fitness

Two research reports of interest to officers concerned about health and fitness: 1. A study from the University of Chicago reveals that sleep deprivation may inhibit your ability to lose weight, even if you exercise and eat well. The research shows that restricting sleep to just 4 hours per night—a familiar phenomenon to officers who...
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Midnight Shift And Health Risks: New Study Tells Sobering Truths

Officers who predominately work midnights are at greater risk of developing severe health problems than civilians and other cops, especially if they average more than about 90 minutes of overtime per week and have trouble sleeping. This is established in a new study by an 8-member team of health experts, headed by Dr. John Violanti,...
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One Agency’s Innovation for Easing Shift Fatigue

We’ve reported previously on the dangers of fatigue in policing, but we haven’t described a creative countermeasure, typified by the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office in Redwood City, CA. To help deputies who would otherwise face exhausting commutes after long shifts, the SO has established 2 free “crash pads” where personnel can get adequate sleep...
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Police and Sleep Problems: Are You a 40%er?

In law enforcement, you strive to be a 5%er, a symbol of excellence and commitment. But you may also be a 40%er. And that ain’t so good. After surveying 5,296 LEOs in North America, a Harvard Medical School group reports that nearly 40% (38.8%) of active-duty officers are suffering from sleep abnormalities. These include apnea,...
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Another Alarm Sounds About Tired Cops

The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin has added its voice to the growing concern about police fatigue, with an article in its August issue characterizing the problem as “an accident waiting to happen.” Among other things, the author, Spcl. Agt. Dennis Lindsey, a senior instructor at the DEA Academy and an international fellow at the Australian...
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What You Need To Know About Back Pain

Chronic back pain–an affliction suffered by many police officers–can affect your brain. According to researchers from Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, such chronic pain can cause premature aging by shrinking the brain’s gray matter as much as 11 per cent in one year, the equivalent of 10-20 years of normal aging, according to a...
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