The Honolulu Police Department and the union representing more than 2,000 officers have reached an agreement on a new five-day work week.

The settlement was announced yesterday and ended months of negotiations between the department and the State of Hawai'i Organization of Police Officers. The new schedule begins Aug. 3 and will be in effect for five years.

The agreement calls for officers to work five nine-hour shifts a week with a one-hour meal break each day. Every other week, officers will have a third day off, said Detective Alexander Garcia, SHOPO's O'ahu chairman.

"This is a true collaborative effort that addresses everyone's concerns," Garcia said.

In a written statement, Chief Boisse Correa agreed.

"We did our best to consider the suggestions and concerns of our officers, and the safety of the public and our employees," he said.

The new schedule will replace the existing "3-12" system, which allows officers to work three 12-hour shifts a week and an extra 12-hour shift each month. Nearly 1,200 of the department's 2,011 officers now have this schedule.

Many officers preferred the three-day work week because it allowed them to hold side jobs or do special-duty work to supplement their incomes.

But in January, Correa said he would end the 3-12 system. He said a five-day schedule would better expose patrol officers to their commanders as well as to the community.

Many officers objected but could do little because the contract between the city and SHOPO allowed either side to terminate the agreement. One of the major sticking points since the announcement was whether officers would be given permanent shifts or be placed on rotating shifts, which Garcia said the administration preferred.

Garcia said the administration recently agreed to the permanent-shift system.

"The problem with that was (rotating shifts) didn't allow for any stabilization in the officer's lives," Garcia said. "There were a number of studies that showed permanent shifts were actually the best way to go. They were getting more productive officers, safer working conditions. So all those facts were evaluated by both sides, and we agreed that we'd go to permanent shifts."

Garcia said officers would still have the option of transferring or rotating to another shift. Because of the fixed schedules, he added, officers still will be able to work on side jobs.

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.