In another move to stem the increase in violent crime, Police Chief Charles Ramsey has suspended a rule designed to prevent officers from making mental and physical mistakes because of exhaustion.
Ramsey suspended the work limits rule as part of the crime emergency he declared earlier this month after the District saw 14 homicides in 11 days. The District is trying to reduce violent crime by 50 percent in 30 days.
The work limit rule bans officers from working 18 hours in 24 hours and includes work performed in second jobs. The rule was enacted last year to prevent fatigue.
“Fatigue undermines police-citizen interactions, vehicle operation safety, member use of force, general decision-making, officer alertness and impairs physical and mental performance,” according to the general order signed by Ramsey.
But Ramsey dismissed the rule because officers are working six-day weeks under the crime emergency and the suspension allows police officers who work second jobs to exceed the 18-hour-a-day limit, said Sgt. Joe Gentile, police spokesman.
No officers were working 18-hour police shifts, Gentile said.
Officers working second jobs must submit forms to headquarters every three months, but there is no mechanism to track the number of hours they work outside the police job, Gentile said.
The D.C. Council agreed last week to pay $8 millionto cover overtime during the crime emergency.
The council also agreed to put surveillance cameras in neighborhoods and ban teens aged 16 and younger from staying out after 10 p.m. The curfew begins Monday.
The police, U.S. Attorney’s Office, FBI and the Violent Crimes Task Force have created a joint task force to pit the nation’s top investigators against the District’s most dangerous criminals.
