Evaluating the effectiveness of a fatigue training intervention for the Seattle Police Department: results from a randomized control trial

This study was a 3-year experiment to determine the impact of a fatigue training intervention on police employee sleep, mental health, wellbeing, and safety.

Using a randomized control trial (RCT) experimental design, employees from the Seattle Police Department were exposed to a fatigue training intervention. Measurement included wrist actigraphy to objectively measure sleep, as well as a battery of validated surveys to measure sleep quality, sleepiness, depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptomatology.

Study results revealed that the training significantly improved employee sleep (+ 18 min per 24-h period) and reduced rates of depression, anxiety, PTSD symptomatology, and likelihood of falling asleep at the wheel.

This study is the first to document the effectiveness of a fatigue training intervention in promoting police employee sleep, mental health, wellbeing, and safety using an RCT design. Implications for the police profession are discussed.