New police recruits went through less-than-rigorous fitness tests last week while Supt. Jody Weis -- the department's No. 1 exercise advocate -- looked on.
Four of the 50 recruits flunked.
"It is essential that recruits begin the academy with a minimum level of physical fitness to ensure safe and successful participation in training," said a statement the department released Friday.
Under the state's POWER test, short for Peace Officer Wellness Evaluation Report, a man in his 20s must do 37 sit-ups in a minute and run 1.5 miles in 13:46 while a woman in her 20s must do 31 sit-ups and run the same distance in 16:21. The test also includes bench pressing and a sit-and-reach evaluation.
Sources said Thursday's failures were not unusual: several recruits typically fail in each class. What's different is that unlike previous classes, those who flunked Thursday were given the option of resigning or getting in shape for the next class. In the past, recruits were simply fired.
Also for the first time, the POWER test was videotaped for legal reasons.
Last May, Weis' spokeswoman said the city was pushing for mandatory fitness tests for officers. Failing officers would get paired with trainers and have special diets. The proposal was part of ongoing contract negotiations with the police union.
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Bitch2
The problem with any kind of testing on this job is the clout factor. I talked to a person who worked at the academy for a few years he talked about a Marine that missed a sit up and they fired him from the academy. What if a recruit accidentally fired his gun in the academy but has clout and nothing happens. Is that Fair ?
There are double standards if you have clout on this job.
4 comments:
There ought to be standards that are uniformly applied across the board. The objective is officer fitness for their own safety and public safety.
Great picture BTW. Uniforms like that make frisking fun.
Husband's department USED to have an across the board fitness requirement, but ONLY to get a 9% pay differential. So if the Captain didn't want to do it, fine, but he didn't get the 9% extra. They also had community service and a couple of other things involved for this.
Unfortunately, in the last two or so years they've made passing it not a requirement, just attempting it.
Sigh.
It has always amazed me that someone who is accepted into any LE academy would not be in the best shape of his/her life.
I was an instructor at the FBI Academy and can't tell you how many men couldn't do "one" pullup! Grrrr....
John M: I too was an instructor at our own training academy and it utterly amazed me that young applicants, having been given up to 6 months notice of their tests and what they entailed, turned up incapable of doing a few press-ups. A few years later I returned with my firearms team and saw a struggling recruit. I got down next to him and started doing pressups. I said, `come on sunshine, I'm 43, I've just run 4 miles and I can do about 50 of these`. The Sgt politely thanksed me but asked me not to intervene again as what I did had been deemed to be `demeaning and humiliating`. I won't print my reply.
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