Pitman Schedule for Police

Four platoons, two 12-hour watches

A police Pitman schedule normally divides sworn staff into four platoons: two assigned to days and two to nights. While one day platoon and one night platoon are working, their opposite platoons are off. Offsetting each pair by seven days produces uninterrupted coverage without changing the underlying 14-day rhythm.

The calendar solves the work/off sequence, not staffing minimums. Before assigning officers, list the posts required on every watch: field supervisor, patrol districts, desk or custody coverage, specialist assignments, and any locally required minimum. Add relief capacity for court, training, leave, and sickness rather than treating the base platoon headcount as fully available.

Check the handover and weekend rotation

Pitman gives each platoon every other weekend off, but the three-shift block also creates a demanding run of 36 scheduled hours. Keep briefing and handover time visible, review consecutive overtime after the last scheduled shift, and make approved callbacks or swaps explicit exceptions on one master roster.

Set the correct reference date

Choose a date on which the active day and night platoons are known. Match that date to Crew A through D in the generator, inspect the first 14 days against the current duty roster, and only then generate future months. A wrong anchor produces a calendar that looks consistent while assigning every platoon to the wrong dates.