I’ve always rolled my eyes at the fact that most private security companies have stricter standards than the police. My BIL left law enforcement and became a security guard, he had to lose weight and get in shape for a fitness test… which they had to pass every couple of years.
So the Real Cops aren’t as efficient as the Rent-A-Cops…
Here in the Garden State, the Police Training Commission finally set standards that recruits must meet. Legal challenges to tests had kept things tied up in the courts for years. Two or three weeks into the academy the recruits are tested and must the following standards:
Vertical Jump - 15 inches
Sit –ups - 31 repetitions in one minute
Push-ups - 29 repetitions in one minute
300 meter run - 70.1 seconds
1.5 mile run - 14 minutes 50 seconds
If they fail any portion, they get nine more PT sessions and are tested again on the failed event. If they fail again, they are out. These are not particularly difficult standards but at least they are something. In the past we would sometimes get a recruit who could not do one push up. One. Oddly, this is the only physical test that they have to pass. There are other assessments during the training but they are not pass/fail. Theoretically, a graduating recruit could be in worse shape than when he/she came in. That doesn’t actually happen due to the rigorous training throughout the academy.
Individual agencies may or may not have a physical test to be hired but they they rarely send someone to us who will potentially fail the PT testing. It doesn’t make financial sense for them to do so. Our graduates are, generally, in excellent condition when they graduate. That may not be the case two years later.