Little Rock Police changed patrol officer shift lengths from 10 hours to eight hours just over a month ago, frustrating some officers.
The change was made at the beginning of the current pay period on Oct. 21, according to department members, and was meant to address officer safety, as not enough officers were working at one time.
"It allows more officers to be on," department spokesman Mark Edwards said. "It's really about protecting the officers. That's all."
With how the 10-hour shifts worked, patrol areas would be shorthanded during certain hours of the day, according to Little Rock Black Police Officer Association spokesman J.C. White.
"The command staff brought the issue up because they were short during certain times of the day," White said.
According to White, Chief Keith Humphrey wanted to keep the 10-hour shifts but relented to pressure from the command staff.
"The chief finally made the decision let's go to [8-hour shifts] until we can get enough vehicles back in rotation and maybe, hopefully, switch back to 10s again," White said.
Humphrey cited Fraternal Order of Police President Ronnie Morgan as one of the department members who petitioned for the shift length change because of the officer safety issues.
"I'll be quite honest. I was one of the ones who called the chief and said something's got to be done. This is not safe," Morgan said.
Humphrey could not be reached for comment about this issue.
White said the divide on preference for shift length may have something to do with age difference within the department.
"The chief had already gone out and met with the patrol divisions and the officers to say, 'hey, I'm not changing the 10-hour shifts," White said. "And so, they were all excited because the younger officers like the 10-hour shifts."
Because the change happened on the pay period of Thanksgiving, White thinks some officers who would have had Thursday off for the holiday under the 10-hour shifts may not have been off under the new rotation.
"I'm sure they had to go back and reschedule just because they were getting moved around and they were going to new shifts," White said.
White also confirmed that department members requesting time off would have to put in those requests 10 days in advance, which leaves little time for officers whose schedules changed.
Morgan said he had not heard of any direct complaints to him, but imagines some people were unhappy with how the change happened.
"I imagine there were some people that were unhappy about it, but I think by and large, if you talk to most of them, they understand why it had to be done," Morgan said.