CAMP HILL, Pa. (WHTM) – Lower Allen Township police will continue to work 12-hour shifts after a three-month trial period. They say it improves your safety and saves tax dollars.

“I actually feel more focused,” said Cpl. Jeremy Read.

Read has more energy with his new shifts.

“The old schedule, we were on with seven-day stretches,” Read said. “By the end of the seven-day stretch, I’m done. I’m overdosing on coffee and all that stuff.”

“It’s another way we can do more with less,” Capt. Leon Crone said.

Going to 12-hour workdays has resulted in 94 hours less overtime over a two-month period in comparison to last year.

“We had 155 less hours where we were at minimum staffing, and 115 more hours where we were at maximum staffing,” Crone said.

The officers work six 12-hour days and one eight-hour day in a two-week period.

“It means more officers on the street more often. You’re going to have better coverage,” Crone said.

Crone says the department has seen a boost in morale and fewer sick days being used.

“I think part of that is because they have more days off between their shifts. Instead of working five, six, or seven days in a row, the most days they work in a row are three days, and then they have two days off to recover from that,” Crone said.

“Departments changing their schedules aren’t going from 12 to eight, they’re going from eight to 12,” Read said.

Several other Cumberland County police departments are also on 12-hour shifts, including the Hampden Township Police Department.