Police Unit time checks?

Ever since I started here,3+years, on the over night shift we have had to do hourly time checks on all the police units (apparently years ago a chief got mad because an officer was busted sleeping, time checks were a way to make sure they were awake) all of our officers hated these checks, and we were not crazy about them either, that and the attitude we got from the officers because we did it. Thankfully the time checks were finally discontinued this past Friday, and we couldn't be happier.. I was wondering if any other depts do hourly, or periodic overnight time checks

Yep, we do hourly status checks...it's not to make sure they're not sleeping though, it's more like to make sure they're alive... I've worked for 2 separate agencies and they have both had hourly status checks. Most of the guys are ok with it but there are a few who can be jerks about it.

We do them every hour from the last time they spoke. There is a valid reason behind this other than checking up on your units. Many officers get into situations before they are able to advise dispatch, and you never know if one of those times they aren't going to be able to say anything. You never know also if they go off the road and are involved in an mva somewhere. Several years ago before our regional dispatch took over the duties of this station, one of our troopers was shot and killed while on a DUII stop. He went to give the passengers of the veh a ride and didn't pat him down well enough. He ended up being shot in the back of the head. He wasn't discovered until an employee of the mini mart went out and saw him slumped over the wheel. It had been I think between 30-60 minutes from the time of the incident when he was discovered. If he hadn't have been near the mini mart, it could have been all night if they didn't do status checks. His own actions compromised his safety because he didn't keep his dispatch (a trooper in the office) informed of what was going on, but that is why we have such guidelines....because we are supposed to worry about them when they think they are fine. In this case getting there any sooner wouldn't have saved his life, but in another scenario, it might. Dina

Dina, I can see your points on officer safety being a need for the checks.. our officers are bad at doing all kinds of things without telling us what they are doing or where they are, which is scary. but that is all day, not just overnights. Being in a small county, we tend to think bad things don't happen, but we all know that is wrong. In this field you just never know. I am glad we don't have to deal with the attitude of having to do the checks, but not knowing if everyone is o.k. does wear on the nerves sometimes