Why are law enforcement officers not required to keep a certain level of physical fitness?

Question

Why are law enforcement officers not required to keep a certain level of physical fitness?

Answer 1

The levels are set by the departments

Answer 2

Because there is a shortage of qualified people.  Now a days too many people have arrests and drug issues and do not pass the background investigations.  Those that do qualify don't want the lousy job...

Answer 3

Because they have a union that protects them.

Answer 4

You are required to pass a fitness test in the academy and before you are hired then it is up to the officer. In N.C you have to run 200 yards, drags a 150 pound person 50 feet, go up and down 3 sets of steps do go though a door with 50 pounds of Resistances, do 20 push ups 20 sit ups, crawl though a tunnel 50 feet long, 20 push ups 20 sit ups, run 200 yards then drag another 150 pound person 30 feet. and you are given 2 street names at the start that you have to say at the end for the time to start. I think you get 7 min to complete. I believe that is just a minimum fitness level. Once your on the road you could sit in a car for hours at a time doing paper work and patrolling and its sometimes hard to find a good meal so many officers eat junk and don't exercise. The number 1 leading cause for law enforcement deaths is heart disease. I am a Sheriffs Deputy and believe that we all should be held to a higher standard.

Answer 5

The ones I know are.  I dont know where they arent required to, but they all do where I live and have lived.

Answer 6

Probably because many officers filed worker's comp claims from injuries incurred while exercising outside of work hours for the purpose of maintaining job-required levels of physical fitness.

If a departnent has no fitness policy, then it is much less likely that a WC judge will find that a badly sprained ankle suffered while running around a track after work, done because the PD required officers to run two miles in less than X minutes, is a work-related injury.

Believe me, it happens.  I know of a case where a CHP officer injured her foot while practicing a standing long jump.  The jump was required for CHP bonus pay.  The officer sued for worker's comp, and won.  Now, my understanding is that CHP does not require a physical fitness test.  Everyone automatically receives the bonus pay.