Voluntary fitness assesments???

[ElMonje]

I am seeking information. I heard that there are some departments that have voluntary fitness assessments. The assessments are similar to that of performance assessments from the military with there being age/ sex brackets for times etc.
What I have heard is that those departments that have these yearly, voluntary assessments those officers that pass get a 1% to 2% pay increase.
I would like to see such an assessment get started at my department (Madison, WI) both for overall officer's health and longevity but also obviously for their safety as well.
Any information out there people may have on departments with such assessments would be greatly appreciated.
BE SAFE!

[shook0002]

I used to work for a department that did yearly fitness, and physical exam by a doc. Basically it was a 1.5 mile run on the treadmill, or until you reached a certain heartrate. 30 situps in a minute, one pull up, 30 pushups in a minute, .90 of your body weight benchpress 1 rep. Body fat determination, and handgrip stregth. The exam by the doc. consided of a normal physical plus they took blood. I always wondered the legality of this since it was mandatory(does the dept have the right to take blood from me, and test it) the dept stated it was a condition of employment. But the people that passed received $125 check, the people that failed basically were handed a fitness plan.

[exComptonCop]

We had a voluntary physical fitness incentive program. A series of tests...mile run on the track or tread mill, body fat % test, bench press, and sit up test, all performed consecutively, three times a year. In return for remaining in shape throughout the year, an officer could receive up to two weeks vacation time.

[ISPCAPT]

We have annual PT test which is the same as the state standard for all new LEOs. Every sworn Troop, from the most rookie Troop to the Director, have to pass the PT test or they're fired. We have fired people for not passing the test.

[nkpd44]

Our pd basically has a "Fitness Challenge" set up by officers once a year. The pd kicks in and gets the top performer's a prize (pd wind shirts, polos, ...etc.). It is voluntary.

[SlowDownThere]

Our's uses the Cooper Institute Standards. While it is entirely voluntary, there are cash awards for doing well.

[Tack69]

I posted this in the training area but here it is here...

We have voluntary yearly fitness assessments up here at our dept.

If you achieve that min of a 75% on your fitness test, then you get your fitness pin, and our contract states that then you are awarded 12 hours with pay off to be used that year.

Our fitness appraisal is done by a certified officer and is based upon times and age.

It includes a 1.5 mile run, stomach crunches, flexibility and pushups. There is another test to replace the 1.5 mile run and the rest it includes a shuttle run, and a obstacle course type of thing but I personally have never done it.

We used to have a mandatory fitness test yearly in our contract, and that got cancelled due to health and safety reasons. Then we were able to negotiate a voluntary test into the contract. Our entire Tactical team does it as it is mandatory to be on the team and we still get the 12 hours, and usually there are a dozen or so officers outside of that who choose to do it.

We found that the incentive of a day off with pay if you pass got guys outside of the ones who had to do it as part of the team involved.

Hope that helps!

[ElMonje]

Which agencies?

I thank everyone for their responses. Would you please identify your agencies so I can do some follow up. Tack69 I got your reply and thanks again.

[MOGSOT]

The San Antonio Police Department has incentive days off for passing the yearly fitness test. Depending on how high you score according to your age you can earn days off.

score 250 get 5 days off
score 240 get 4 days off
score 230 get 3 days off
score 220 get 2 days off
score 190 get 1 day off

I'm not sure if these scores are the exact numbers for days off, but I can find out. This is the idea though.

[ofc129]

Ours is mandatory, not voluntary. The incentive is that if you score above a certain level, you get to take it every 2 or 3 years instead of annually.

[ateamer]

If it is mandatory, you are probably entitled to overtime for working out, and should be putting in for workman's comp for any injuries incurred while training to pass the test.

[ofc129]

Sorry, but I'm not that whiny. I believe in mandatory assessments, it could be my *** that's depending on some fatty who can't be bothered to maintain some sort of minimum physical standard. Attitudes like that are why we still fight the fat cop with a donut stereotype.

[cst.sb]

I just did our PARE (Popat) test to take the bike course. To encourage us to take the test yearly and to stay in shape they give us a t-shirt. I guess it's not working out to well, because they are still giving out 06 shirts... hopefully, when they order new ones they just leave the date off.

I tried to find a video of the PARE but wasn't able to. But I did find one of a Vancouver Police Officer that's hilarious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K20dRc7QMrg&mode=related&search=

[ateamer]

Sorry, but I'm not that whiny. I believe in mandatory assessments, it could be my *** that's depending on some fatty who can't be bothered to maintain some sort of minimum physical standard. Attitudes like that are why we still fight the fat cop with a donut stereotype.

Wrong. I have 26 years of weight training, 11 years of powerlifting competition under my belt and am in excellent shape. It seems to me that if an officer is out on the street and doing his job, he is in sufficient shape to do the job. If administrators want to screw with people who are on the job and have proven themselves, they need to pony up for it.

You don't encourage fitness by punishing people for not meeting the standard. You encourage it by making it an incentive, like several departments described above.

Besides, no cop has ever had to run 1.5 miles in a foot pursuit or do situps. How about requiring a bench press of 1.5 times bodyweight for males, 1.1 times bodyweight for females, two pullups with 20 pounds added, and time them in a 250 yard run, and measure the force of a baton strike? Upper body strength and sprint speed are more realistic necessities for street work.

[jeeper]

ElMonje, check with Appleton PD. I'm pretty sure their assessment is mandatory, however. They get incentive for scoring above average.

FYI, I work across the street from you and I recall that there were some guys from here that looked into starting a similiar program here about 3 or 4 years ago. It never went anywhere.