What are the effects of sleep disorders on police officers?

Dr. Michael Breus, PhD

Psychology

Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital screened 4957 police officers for sleep disorders. This most recent study indicates that police officers who are suffering from sleep problems are at higher risk for errors on the job. The officers who screened positive for sleep problems had higher rates of several job performance issues than their better-sleeping counterparts. They were more likely to:

Commit a serious administrative error.
Fall asleep while driving on a shift.
Make an error or commit a violation that was attributed to fatigue.
Demonstrate poor behavior, including uncontrolled anger.

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