IMPD Announces 10-Hour Shift Pilot Program Starting Jan. 3

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department is planning to roll out a 10-hour shift pilot program starting Jan. 3.

For more than 30 years, IMPD had been operating on the same 8-1/2-hour shift. IMPD Chief Chris Bailey said the 10-hour schedule is one way to address an officer shortage.

“The officers voted to pilot the 10-hour shift in 2026,” Chief Bailey said this week with WISH-TV. “That was an agreement made between the City of Indianapolis and the Fraternal Order of Police.”

According to Chief Bailey, the department is about 300 officers short. He said the longer shifts will allow them to put more officers on patrol from 11 a.m. to 3 a.m.

“With the way its been developed, it puts more officers on our districts in our neighborhoods during the peak hours of crime,” said Chief Bailey.

Officers will work four or five days a week with extra days off. Chief Bailey said they will evaluate the 10-hour shifts as the year goes on to determine if they will make it the permanent schedule.

Leaders with the Fraternal Order of Police say the change will give officers more time to rest and improve their work-life balance.