Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) – awakened to the hunt for criminals: the police in North Rhine-Westphalia want to offer their employees sleep seminars for the first time. What sounds funny has a serious background: Since many police officers – for example the criminal police – work in the home office due to the corona pandemic, the boundaries between job and free time are blurring. As a result – according to the responsible police training authority – the “sleep quality” of the officers suffers.
For this reason, up to 5,000 interested parties are to be trained from October. According to the State Office for Training, Further Education and Personnel Affairs (LAFP), the aim of the project is “to sensitize all employees of the NRW police who work from home to a healthy work-life-sleep balance.”
The main focus is on “helping people to help themselves if they have problems falling asleep or staying asleep”. An online platform is to be provided for three months, on which one can serve oneself. In addition, several online seminars (“webinars”) are planned. A service provider for this is currently being sought. It is therefore not yet possible to provide more specific information, according to the LAFP.
The police union (GdP) in North Rhine-Westphalia supports the Better Sleep initiative, but also reminds colleagues on the street: “We expressly welcomed the introduction of the home office regulations – that immediately after the introduction there were already measures like the aforementioned seminar is good,” says GdP-NRW Vice Michael Maatz. “But something has to be done for shift work,” said the trade unionist.
Shift work is “proven to be harmful to health”. This is also associated with sleep disorders, says Maatz. Among other things, the GdP would like the state government to reduce the 41-hour week.
