Should police be allowed to get overweight?

[tanker]

If a person can not control his weight, how can he be trusted to control other things. Overweight cops are disgusting and a disgrace to the uniform. Stop porking up or ship out I say.

 

[Shimus]

Seems there's no leeway or forgiveness in here, but I can see what you mean. Who wants an overweight protector who couldn't chase a perp down? But I don't think those "fat cops" should be fire, or taken away. Some people can't control their weight due to health related issues and balloon out. I would relegate such people to be paper pushers or desk jockeys, that way you could keep only fit people on patrol and that would motivate the fatter cops to work out and loose weight, to get back into the field.

 

[Owl]

I agree with Patrick overall--it would be pretty hard to enforce. I think that there would be a grace period in place at least, if it was enforced, making sure they had the opportunity to lose the weight first before losing their jobs. I do also think that police officers having free gym access would certainly help.

 

[Shimus]

That's a valid point. The cops do protect and serve the community as a whole, so with their badge number (or proper licensing) should get a membership to the gym or local YMCA (or any place that allows free lifting and swimming ) to get in shape. The least we could do is give back a bit. Or at least discount them.

 

[donnalynn47]

My cousin ran for sheriff in our county he won. In fact he is still sheriff to this day. He resigned from G.B.I to run and he won by a land slide. He was and still is super in shape he runs every morning. Of course he is a stud a real looker and built to boot I think all his votes came from the ladies lol. The first thing he did as sheriff was to fire all the out of shape officers. Lord knows that's all we had too.

 

[Shimus]

Well hopefully he has a competent staff now, of properly trained and weighted people.


My question is what does one qualify as "Overweight"? Does it have to be going the way of obesity before we call it overweight? I see plenty of "Chunky" cops that can still run down a perp plenty fine.

 

[OMGnoWAY]

I think there's a difference between being healthy/fit and being overweight. There are plenty of people who are technically overweight who can run a mile in 6 minutes. Now, "should officers be allowed to become morbidly obese?" is a totally different question. I agree that at a certain point, you don't need to be a doctor to see that someone's weight could affect their ability to run/chase. If your partner wheezes just getting in and out of a car, then I think it's fair to assume he might not be in optimal shape.

I think officers should have to have a physical, say, every 5 years, and if their doctor thinks they're too out of shape then they should have to re-pass the fitness test they had to take in academy.

 

[Shimus]

Very valid points, I like where you're coming from OMG. I have to agree with the physical point but it should be every 2-3 years, not 5. 5 seems relatively long.

 

[RingoBerry]

I honestly believe that a rule should be applied concerning the fitness of our police officers regardless of duty and designation. For as long as they are in the force, they have to be fit and healthy. Its a win - win thing really.

 

[tanker]

Police officers should not be allowed to get overweight, how can they run and do their job properly. It also gives a bad image for the force, it is difficult to respect someone who is supposed to enforce the law when he is grossly overweight. Police have enought stress related health problems, being overweight will increase the amount of health problems they will have.

 

[Gelsemium]

Well, if the police officer needs to run he needs to be fit... I am not saying fire him, but at the same time they do physicals to get in for a reason right?

 

[OMGnoWAY]

Seems there's no leeway or forgiveness in here, but I can see what you mean. Who wants an overweight protector who couldn't chase a perp down? But I don't think those "fat cops" should be fire, or taken away. Some people can't control their weight due to health related issues and balloon out. I would relegate such people to be paper pushers or desk jockeys, that way you could keep only fit people on patrol and that would motivate the fatter cops to work out and loose weight, to get back into the field.

Oh yes, I totally agree. I never meant that obese cops should be straight up fired. I definitely think they should be able to have desk jobs or surveillance or some such other job that would not be too physically hard for them. And they should be given the chance to re-take the physical whenever they feel they can and given back their job if they pass.

There are actually a lot of positions in police departments that don't require running/lots of activity. I don't think anyone's suggesting they can't do ANYTHING, just that they shouldn't be the ones responding to 911 calls.

 

[piez]

Being a police officer can be very demanding work. I definitely think they should be required to be in shape at any given time. If they are unhealthy or overweight they won't be able to perform their job at maximum capacity.

 

[Rainman]

It's not a question of whether they should or shouldn't be allowed to be overweight. While there should be regulations to ensure police officers stay fit, I don't think one would be fired because they over a long period of time, started piling on pounds and eventually ended up being overweight. Fact is most cops are overweight.

80% Of Police Officers Are Overweight; Why They?re More Likely To Die From Heart Disease Than Fighting Crime

(FBI) found that eight out of 10, or 80 percent, of law enforcement workers in the U.S. are overweight

How easy would it be to get all those cops to lose weight?

 

[Waynefire]

Personally, I know way to many cops who have heart attacks or other issues related to their weight. So some standard of physical fitness would be helpful.

 

[hellonamesdan]

I definitely don't think that someone's weight should be considered to make someone lose their job! If they can still perform the tasks they are asked to perform then being overweight shouldn't affect their job position. If they can't then that's another story...

 

[OGRICHBOI]

I feel as if these job requirements need to be stricter regarding weight and physical fitness. The purpose of a police officer is to protect the public. How will this be done if the officer is overweight and can lose an important chase? Also, becoming fit is not hard if you're in this department.

 

[marcamm]

I think that being fit and healthy should always be a major concern for all policemen in all levels/ranks. I think every station or office should have a professional health adviser and a nutritionist and all policemen should all regularly undergo health evaluation and checkup. Those who will fail the evaluation should go through a weight-loss program until they reach the ideal body weight again. If saving lives is their priority, then I think they should save their own lives as first by not allowing themselves to be unhealthy and be sick.