POLICE officers attached to Emergency 999 Unit (south) have expressed displeasure with their new working hours, which demand that they work four days straight with just one day off.

“Why do we have to do this?” asked one disgruntled officer.

“This shouldn’t be so when everybody else is working two days off and two days on.

“We are working more than 40 hours for the week.”

The policemen argued that the same kind of working hours did not apply in every division and that’s why they were so uncomfortable with the new arrangements.

“Not all of the stations are working these hours,” the spokesman contended.

“Here in E 999 we are under pressure.

He threatened: “If things don’t change, we are going to stage a sick- out.”

The officer who spoke on behalf of his colleagues told TnT Mirror that it was four months ago that their work hours changed.

“We have spoken to our seniors about the problem, but they are not taking us on,” he stated.

He said talking to their representative (police) association is a real waste of time.

“They know and still won’t do anything about it,” he added.

According to the spokesman, their new working hours have been blamed on the current crime situation.

“But that is nonsense,” he continued.

“If that was so, our colleagues should have been given the same work hours.”

He further noted that the odd working hours sometimes forced officers, who had completed their shift, to sleep in the police station.

“When an officer finishes work at two o’clock in the morning, he has to sleep in the station, depending on where he lives,” he explained.

He said their shifts often begin at two o’clock in the afternoon to two o’clock on mornings and six o’clock on mornings to six o’clock on evenings.

He warned: “Since this is taking advantage of us, don’t be surprised when we get sick.”