For my final paper I will be writing about the effects of sleep deprivation on different fields of law enforcement, and some possible solutions. A few weeks ago we discussed sleep in law enforcement, and I intend to learn more. It is said that "In a large sample of police officers, about 40% screened positive for at least one sleep disorder, but most hadn't been diagnosed previously" (Fiore 1). All these men and women serve our country and strive to make it a safer and better place. With the recent uprisings about police brutality, it came to mind if these decisions had been at all influenced by a lack of sleep, and if there would have been a different outcome had the officers been well rested. It is no secret that when people in general are not well rested their emotions are not in balance. In a job where one deals with everyday people and the scum of the earth, these men and women need to keep their cool. Also beyond this issue, sleep deprivation causes slower response times, and in a job that ticks by second to second, each one matters, and with slower reaction times, it comes into question if sleep deprivation is just as big of a handicap as a physical injury such as a broken arm. This is argumentative because of the political side of the argument, I am not questioning the intentions of officers, but maybe the sources of their judgment and the real effects that their odd and sleep compromising schedule brings about. In terms of solutions I will identify the schedules of the different braches of law enforcement (police officers, FBI, CIA, and FDA) and provide ways to combat the issue of sleep in these jobs. For my sources I already have most of them, but I intend on having to use more than required due to the facts I will need to acquire for the debate on solutions and shootings. I want to write about this because hopefully in a few years I will be working in law enforcement, specifically the FBI in the counter terrorism unit. I know these are real challenges faced everyday in my field and if there is anyway to learn how to combat these issue I want to know so I can be the most effective person in the field. I want to serve my country internally with as much success as possible, and the only way to do that is to know what I am getting into and to hopefully bring some insight into how hard the lifestyle is.
My sources I will use are:
- An Experimental Study of Compressed Work Schedules in Policing: Advantages and Disadvantages of Various Shift lLngths By: Karen L. Amendola, David Weisburd, Edwin E. Hamilton , Greg Jones & Meghan Slipka
- Sleep Disorders Common Among Police Officers By: Fiore, Kristina
- Dangerous Fatigue Conditions: A Study of Police Work and Law Enforcement Administration By: Scott R. Senjo
- EFFECTS OF WORK-RELATED SLEEP RESTRICTION ON ACUTE PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS RESPONSES AND THEIR INTERACTIONS: A REVIEW AMONG EMERGENCY SERVICE PERSONNEL By: ALEXANDER WOLKOW, SALLY FERGUSON, BRAD AISBETT, and LUANA MAIN
- SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTIONS OF THE EFFECTS OF SUSTAINED PERFORMANCE UNDER SLEEP-DEPRIVATION CONDITIONS By: Heather N. Odle-Dusseau, Jessica L. Bradley, and June J. Pilcher
Holli, I approve this topic and can't wait to see where your research leads, especially regarding possible solutions. The one thing that I would mention is that you might consider scaling back just a little, since this will not be a very long paper. Some ideas for scaling back are working with one or two branches of law enforcement rather than four. Additionally, you may not want to spend too much time on recent police brutality cases, as discussion of the violence could overshadow your overall argument about sleep. Perhaps choose a few key examples? There are, unfortunately, an abundance from which to choose.
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to hear all about what you learn Holli! Very interesting!
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