Police Officers Need More Sleep!

            We rely on police officers to be there when we need them, awake and alert. But what happens when they do not get enough sleep? Researchers are now screening officers to see if they have any sleep disorders and have found that of those screened, 40% had at least one disorder. These disorders include sleep apnea, which results in the sleeper waking up many times throughout the night due to the abrupt stoppage of breathing, and insomnia, which results in the sleeper not being able to fall asleep or stay asleep. The researchers also found that, "those with sleeping disorders were 51% more likely to fall asleep while driving, 61% more likely to violate safety protocols, 43% more likely to make administrative errors, and 22% more likely to be injured on the job, compared to officers reporting no sleeping disorders" (cnn.com). I do not want my police officers to be like this. It is important that they get enough sleep and state officials need to change the laws on this.
            The author of this article, William Hudson, was obviously very informed on the topic. He used relevant quotes from the research and from a Sleep Specialist at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, MA. Hudson also uses many statistics to bring out the logos in the article. The ethos to this article is that police officers are supposed to look out for our safety, but without enough sleep they cannot even look out for the safety of themselves. 


Click here to read the article.