SummaryThe occupational demands of law enforcement increase the risk of poor‐quality sleep, putting officers at risk of adverse physical and mental health. This cross‐sectional study aimed to characterise sleep quality in day workers, 8 and 12 h rotating shift pattern workers. One hundred eighty‐six officers volunteered for the study (37 female, age: 41 ± 7). Sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh sleep quality index, actigraphy and the Leeds sleep evaluation questionnaire. The maximal aerobic capacity (VO2max) was measured on a treadmill via breath‐by‐breath analysis. There was a 70% overall prevalence of poor sleepers based on Pittsburgh sleep quality index scores, where 8 h shifts exhibited the worst prevalence (92%, p = 0.029), however, there was no difference between age, gender, or role. In contrast, 12 h shifts exhibited the poorest short‐term measures, including awakening from sleep (p = 0.039) and behaviour following wakefulness (p = 0.033) from subjective measures, and poorer total sleep time (p = 0.024) and sleep efficiency (p = 0.024) from the actigraphy. High VO2max predicted poorer wake after sleep onset (Rsq = 0.07, p = 0.05) and poorer sleep latency (p = 0.028). There was no relationship between the Pittsburgh sleep quality index scores and any of the short‐term measures. The prevalence of poor sleepers in this cohort was substantially higher than in the general population, regardless of shift pattern. The results obtained from the long‐ and short‐term measures of sleep quality yielded opposing results, where long‐term perceptions favoured the 12 h pattern, but short‐term subjective and objective measures both favoured the 8 h pattern.