Physical Fitness Requirements in Law Enforcement Agencies Research Paper

Document Content and Description Below

Physical Fitness Requirements in Law Enforcement Agencies Research Paper Written By, Daniel J. Breci Law Enforcement 600 – Managing Public Organizations Everett Doolittle, Professor Metropolit... an State University April 24, 2005 1Law enforcement and other public safety organizations often require their applicants, trainees, and incumbents to maintain a certain level of physical fitness to be “fit for duty.” Job-related duties require an individual to be prepared to perform optimally in certain situations with strength, stamina, speed and power. There is no governing body that dictates to organizations how they are to implement fitness tests, choose their fitness standards, or implement their fitness programs. Some organizations have voluntary fitness testing with recommended standards that are not enforced (voluntary compliance). Other organizations have mandatory compliance for fitness tests and standards, meaning that the individual will not be hired or will be fired if fitness standards are not met or maintained. Still others have mandatory testing but voluntary compliance to fitness standards. Furthermore, organizations often differ in fitness requirements for applicants, trainees and incumbents. For example, some law enforcement departments require their academy graduates to meet a fitness standard, but the incumbent officer is never tested for fitness again (The Cooper Institute 2005: Overview p.1). The U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, in its information to The Bureau of Justice Statistics, Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics for Local Police Department 2000 Census, shows that 44% of agencies of all sizes reported Physical Agility testing during the recruitment of new officers. Agencies with a population of one million or more reported: 87%. Populations between 500,000 to 999.999 88%. Populations between 250,000 and 499,999 90% Populations between 100,000 and 249,999 83% [Show More]

Last updated: 1 year ago

Preview 1 out of 27 pages