Can a police department work a 4 day week? (A case study of Golden Police Department)
Successfully transitioning to a 4 day work week in law enforcement
In July 2023, the Golden Police Department (GPD) in Golden, Colorado, embarked on an innovative journey to improve employee morale, retention, and productivity. They launched a six-month pilot program, transitioning their full-time employees from a traditional 40-hour workweek to a 32-hour workweek, without any reduction in pay.
How Golden City Police Department switched to a 4 day work week with no loss in pay
Golden, Colorado is a city of 20,400 between Denver and the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The city government employs over 300 people.
The 4 day week pilot program, part of a larger "The Best for Golden" initiative, had two aims: to determine if a shorter workweek would benefit officers and staff in the Golden Police Department, and to generate data that could guide a larger city-wide trial of the 4 day week.
Why did they decide to trial a 4 day week in their police department?
The police department was selected to conduct the first trial for several reasons. It was regarded as the most challenging department in which to implement a 4 day week: law enforcement has to operate 24/7, and hours have to flex when officers are dealing with emergencies, natural disasters like blizzards, or other unpredictable events.
As a department with a wide mix of roles and schedules, employing several generations, and including both sworn and civilian officers, it was seen as a good microcosm of city government as a whole.
Unlike some city services, law enforcement has standard tools for measuring performance of officers, and tracks everything from the number of traffic tickets written in a week, to the number of hours of overtime officers work in a pay period, to the amount of time it takes to process a piece of evidence.
Finally, chief of police Joe Harvey was a proponent of a shorter week, and was willing to take the lead in trialing it for the city.
How the police department switched to a 4 day work week: Approach
The department adjusted personnel's schedules to have less overlap, creating "power shifts'' to maximize employees' time. It shortened meetings to reduce the amount of time officers were in the station, and increase the proportion of time they could spend in the community.
It developed new reporting tools, which mixed automated reporting from some systems, and new tools built by commanders or department heads.
The results of Golden’s first ever 4 day week trial
The results of the 4 day week pilot were promising. Most important, response times for calls received dropped during the six-month trial compared to the previous year.
Average response time for priority one calls, which include serious offenses in progress, dropped by 5%; response time for priority two calls, including less serious offenses in progress, fell by 7%.
There was also a significant decrease in overtime spending, due to fewer overtime hours worked per month on average, and an agreement between the police union and city that, when it was necessary to work extra hours, hours 33 to 40 of the workweek would be paid at the usual salaried rate.
The department also saw a 50% reduction in department resignations and retirement during the pilot. Over the long run, higher retention and lower turnover could represent a substantial savings for the city: it costs the city $166,000 to train a new officer, and thousands more to conduct interviews, review resumes, attend job fairs or write and place advertisements. Further, more seasoned officers are able to work more efficiently, and make better decisions under stress.
Next steps for Golden City Police Department and their 4 day work week
In February 2024, Golden city government leaders decided to continue the 4 day week pilot for an additional six months through July 1, 2024, and began planning to expand the 4 day week pilot to other departments.
