Protect and serve, what all facets of law enforcement are sworn to do. Yet, on the whole, few officers will spend the time to protect and serve themselves. As a mirror to society many officers rely of technology, gear and medicine to protect us. We live under the notion that it will not happen to me, but it can and it will. Even with most departments having fitness testing yearly there is so much red tape surrounding being fit and healthy that even if a test is failed your job is safe. Now, I am not saying anyone should be fired for failing a fitness test but as a profession sworn to protect the public we are not doing a very good job of taking care of ourselves.

Law enforcement, Fire service and EMS all have a growing problem. As candidates applying to academies are less fit and more obese than ever before the bar is being lowered to allow them in; the bar is not being maintained or even raised. As society becomes more violent and the public becomes more obese we cannot afford to allow ourselves to waiver. The cost alone of hiring, training and support of a new officer is enormous. With budgets strained to the max just a few catastrophic injuries can send many departments over the edge. Some estimates show a lower back injury that requires surgery can cost over $10,000 once rehab is complete and knee injuries are not far behind. As a fitness and injury prevention specialist the need to tighten standards even more seems obvious; it just costs too much to hire an unfit employee.

Maybe we should take a lesson from our tactical brothers, if you are unable to pass all facets of the physical testing then off the team you go. SWAT officers spend hours training to stay in peak condition, both for the job and to keep the job. Why is an officer that fails numerous tests allowed on the street? Can we remediate them to achieve a safe and acceptable level of fitness? Yes we can remediate an officer that is unable to pass a fitness test or a job specific test like the POPAT. Often an officer that fails their test is simply told to come back in 90 days and re-test, left on their own to find their way back to fitness.

The definition of insanity is roughly stated as repeating the same thing over and over but expecting a different result. Most officers, if left to their own accords, will go to the gym or hit the pavement and repeat the same exercises that led them to their non-fit state or even caused pain and injury. I constantly see dedicated officers and SWAT members performing dangerous exercises in the gym that will do nothing to help them on the street and will definitely contribute to injury. I implore you to learn what exercises are safe and effective for an officer and that will not contribute to injury by further encouraging postural distortions.