Fitness training should be mandatory when becoming a police officer. Officers would have a better chance at catching subjects and better their ability to serve and protect their communities.
According to Live Life Big, in 2021 about 40.5% of officers were obese. Some police might say that it is a stereotype but the stereotype has the facts to back it up. In 2017, Police 1 said that eight-out-of-ten police officers are over weight.
Not only 40% of them are obese but according to Certify Fit, 25% of them are more likely to die from either cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and even cancer.
In 2018, the NYPD were being dragged down by overweight officers. It’s not only dangerous for themselves but it is dangerous for their partners because they won’t be able to keep up with them and if they can’t stop the suspect, the suspect can get away do God knows what.
Most departments have fitness tests and most are more advanced compared to others, but it is not enough.
According to the New York Post, the NYPD is the fattest department in the country. An ex-officer went from weighing 180 pounds to 395 pounds in 17 years.
The departments that have fitness tests consists of running, push-ups, climbing walls and more. In the United States it is required to spend 21 weeks of training before they are ready to patrol according to BBC. It should probably get pushed back to 25 weeks.
Perhaps include more exercise more running, more conditioning exercises to help with speed and more weight lifting to over power the suspect when they are chasing on foot. The officers don’t have to be skinny or big and buff, but at least more conditioned for the sake of their performance and the safety of others.
They should also be put on a better diet with less junk, less sugar and more protein. Nutrition is a major part of being fit.
COVID-19 certainly had a role to play in this situation in the past two years as everyone was quarantined which made it very difficult for anyone to go outside and get exercise, especially conditioning exercises.
The virus held back so many people from being able to buy any healthy foods and opened lead to people ordering fast food.Before they knew it, they began to gain weight as time passed.
According to Baptist Health South Florida, the amount of weight people gained was at least 29 pounds in the United States.
The police in our communities have done so much to keep us safe and it is well appreciated but more is definitely needed to be done. More is needed to not only help the health of the police but make them even better people than they already are.
