Why aren't cops held to higher fitness standards?

[caffar]

I'm not trying to be disrespectful and I know not all cops are out-of-shape but a fair number of them are. I would think that cops would need to be super fit in order to do their jobs and detain criminals. With all the dangerous situations they can end up in shouldn't they be as fit as Marines?

Again, I'm not disrespecting law enforcement and I know there are plenty of fit officers but why are there so many out-of-shape cops?

[jamilah38]

It depends on what position there in if it were a cop that is in a place where crime is not a common thing than of course they might be overweight.

[osbourne]

we all get older and less active with age but I have seen cunning and experience
with age beat young fit people too many time to count

[gowan]

Depends on the force. Same thing goes for the Military. My sister's stepson was under threat of being kicked out of the Navy unless he lost weight. Really hard when you have a desk job that you work at 12 hours a day. He finally succeeded, but barely.

If you are in a sit down job, and lets face it, driving around in a vehicle a lot of the day qualifies, it is much harder to adjust your calories, hunger to that activity. It just is. Cops go on diets just like the rest of us, and just like the rest of us, when the job interferes with their new attempt at better habits, they fail. In addition, what you could eat at 28, packs on pounds at 38.

Around here, it's pretty obvious that the departments have a standard. You might see overweight cops but you do not see obese cops. Even the sheriff's dept. doesn't have any obese cops. On the other hand, they are not going to fire a detective because he's put on weight - not worth the loss of his knowledge, for sure, especially since detectives aren't usually out there physically chasing after the bad guy. I agree with you though - in some positions, being significantly overweight can really impact the job, but realize that many crimes have been solved by overweight cops. :)

[hob97]

With a gun anybody can do the job

[bean]

The Red Fox is young and learning, the Silver Fox is sly and cunning.

[bocley]

Some agencies do have very high physical fitness standards. Most state agencies have paramilitary academy programs. The California Highway Patrol models there academy after Marine Corps. boot camp.