The nature of police work to respond to calls 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; as a result, the majority of department officials working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week must work atypical hours, particularly weekends, public holidays, evenings and nights; this is commonly called shift work. Prolonged exposure to atypical hours has significant harmful effects on the mental and physical health of police officers. These effects are thus filtered and can cause conflict in their relationships with loved ones and other family members, with officers' divorce rates averaging between 66% and 75%, they are the second largest demographic group in highest divorce rate, almost doubling the national average (McCoy & Aamodt, 2009). This article explores the specific physiological effects of shift work on the worker and its secondary effects on their families. Perrucci, MacDermid, King, Tang, Brimeyer, Ramadoss, Kiser, and Swanberg (2007) conducted a review of the current literature on shift workers. physical health, mental well-being and family life. They defined shift work as employment performed at non-standard hours outside of the usual working hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, including standard or rotating work schedules. Their research indicates that the majority of workers who work these alternate shifts do so because they are forced to by the nature of their work; moreover, more than half of all shift workers fall into the category of protective services, including the police. Data obtained from 2,400 non-standard shift workers indicated that they suffered from physiological symptoms at a higher rate than their counterparts working normal hours, with high instances of digestive problems, chest pain, onset of illness, of...... middle of paper. .....89). A compressed work schedule: coping with some of the problems of shift work. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 10(3), 231-245. McCoy, SP and Aamodt, MG (2010). A comparison of law enforcement divorce rates with those of other professions. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 25(1), 1-16. Perrucci, R., MacDermid, S., King, E., Tang, C., Brimeyer, T., Ramadoss, K., et al. (2007). The importance of shift work: current status and future directions. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 28(4), 600-617. Tuttle, R. and Garr, M. (2012). Shifted work and family-friendly work: is schedule control important? Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 33(3), 261-271. Vila, B., Morrison, GB and Kenney, DJ (2002). Improve policies and practices regarding work schedules and working hours to improve police performance, health and safety. Quarterly policy, 5(1), 4-24.