PHILADELPHIA, PA - One would think that after high-profile cases such as the career-criminal George Floyd "excessive force" (overdose) case, where four Minneapolis police officers were accused of using excessive force, police departments might want to be more selective about who they hire as police officers, even if, as in that case, the officers acted according to their training. That doesn't seem to be the case, unfortunately.
Case in point–the Philadelphia Police Department. Instead of raising standards, Pennsylvania, led by a Democratic governor, took the opposite approach and lowered standards, in this case, physical fitness standards, as reported by WPVI-6. According to Philadelphia Capt. John Walker, where previously 36% of applicants passed the physical fitness exam, that number is now at 51%.
The new measure lowering physical fitness standards for police officers was signed into law last year by Gov. Josh Shapiro.
WPVI spoke to one applicant, Megan Bortner, who was one of 100 applicants who passed her exams during a recruiting event last month. She believes the lower standards will help more people become police officers.
“If you’re having self-doubts or you’re not feeling confident in your athletic abilities, I think it would be a great starting point,” Bortner said.
The Philadelphia PD has around 836 vacancies out of an authorized force of 6,000, or a 15% shortage.
Part of the drive is to increase diversity and equity in the department, according to Walker.
“You have 60 different ethnic groups in the city, so having people from all walks of life helps us become better as an organization because we begin to understand the people we’re serving,” Walker said.
The department hasn’t yet lowered its written and training standards…yet.
When Shapiro served as Pennsylvania’s attorney general, he supported a “law enforcement reform” measure that created a database that would prevent officers “accused” of using excessive force or engaging in “misconduct” from transferring to a different agency.
The bill was passed in the aftermath of Floyd’s death, with Shaprio referring to the usually violent protests as peaceful, issuing the following statement, in part:
“Over the past few weeks, we have seen brave, courageous people practice their constitutional right to peacefully protest–all in the name of justice.”
According to WHYY, the following is a description of a “peaceful protest”:
"Crowds surged as residents took to the streets to voice their anger and frustration about police violence and racism and solidarity with the people most affected. National Guard soldiers in sandy fatigues carried rifles through the hearts of communities, and police officers tear-gassed protesters seated peacefully on I-676. During the chaos, people broke into storefronts and burglarized ATMS, sending the sound of the explosions rippling through the night…” [emphasis added]
WHYY reported that 800 people were arrested during the riots.
Studies have shown that physical fitness is directly related to a number of issues, including job-related injuries and the overall wellness of police officers. The study cited notes that “top physical condition contributes to a higher level of overall health, reduces stress, and enhances the personal perception of wellbeing. [emphasis added]
Further in the study, the researcher explains how physically fit officers benefit offenders.
“Out-of-shape officers pose a danger to both themselves and others.
[...]
“Officers who are physically fit are more confident about their ability to handle a job, make better decisions about which level of forces is appropriate to a situation, and it helps them relax and suffer less stress.” [emphasis added]
For the past 48 years, many police agencies nationwide have relied on a fitness program developed by the Cooper Institute, which recommends the following fitness test for entry-level police officers (as well as recurrent fitness programs):
- 1.5 Mile Run
- 300 Meter Run
- Vertical Jump
- 1 RM Bench Press and/or 1-minute push-up
- 1 Minute Situp
According to the researcher, the Cooper Test “has the validity to predict an officer’s ability to perform essential and critical physically demanding tasks regardless of age, gender, or handicap condition. This test has also been found scientifically valid and defensible in court, as they are job-related.”
Unfortunately, Philadelphia isn’t the only city that has lowered its standards for police officers. Memphis, Tennessee, obliterated its requirements while increasing incentives so anyone with a pulse could get hired.
According to the Associated Press, Memphis eliminated requirements for college credits, military service, or previous police experience. The only requirement is two years of work experience–any work experience. In essence, working the drive-thru at Mcdonald's was sufficient work experience.
Further, as in Philadelphia, Memphis dropped timing requirements for physical fitness drills while completely eliminating running because too many people failed that portion. While in the past, people became police officers because they wanted to help people or because it was in their family, a Memphis recruiter told the AP that most recruits, when asked why they wanted to be cops, said, “It’s strictly about the money.”
“It’s not a career for them like it was to us. It’s just a job,” the recruiter said.
So desperate was Memphis to lower its standards that the city sought a waiver to hire people with criminal records.
That lowering of standards is likely what caused Tyre Nichols to lose his life at the hands of a specialty unit of the Memphis PD, an incident that was captured on video and saw Nichols being beaten, kicked, and pepper-sprayed by members of the now-disbanded SCORPION high-crime task force. Many young officers with limited experience were assigned to such units.
One former recruiter said, “They don’t know a felony from a misdemeanor. They don’t even know right from wrong yet.”
Yet all police officers are judged by the actions of individuals such as these, who had no right to wear the uniform in the first place. Out of the five SCORPION team officers who were charged in Nichols’ death, two had only a couple of years in the department, and none…zero…had more than six years of experience.
Ronal Serpas, former head of the Nashville and New Orleans Police Departments, as well as the Washington State Patrol, hit the nail on the head:
“If you lower standards, you can predict that you’re going to have problems because we’re recruiting from the human race,” Serpas said. “There's such a small number of people who want to do this and an infinitesimally smaller number of people we actually want doing this.”
Serpas is correct. Where police departments used to be extremely selective in who they hired, now it seems any warm body will do. This will have a detrimental effect on law enforcement going forward.
Next, there is the Metro Nashville Police Department. In 2021, the department signed up for the "30x30 Initiative," which aims to increase women's representation in police forces to 30% by 2030, according to News.com. Besides being an arbitrary number, 30 was the magic number for no apparent reason.
According to WSMV, Nashville's percentage of female police officers increased from eleven percent to thirteen percent as of this past February.
How is Nashville seeking to accomplish this? According to the “first female director of training,” Commander Tiffany Gibson, one of the significant changes being made is to lower fitness standards. She didn’t say that, but that is what they are doing. She said they are replacing physical “ability tests” with “agility tests.” We’re not certain what the difference is, but we digress. Gibson claims the tests will mirror tasks officers encounter in the field.
Nashville is also adding “lactation rooms” for nursing officers and more flexible schedules to accommodate the trials and tribulations of motherhood. But it gets better.
“We’re trying to get going, possibly help sponsor our own childcare facility, I think that would be really helpful for females,” Gibson continued. How about pre-K? Elementary school?
According to The Daily Wire host Matt Walsh, the standards have been lowered to a level his four-year-old daughter could pass.
According to Walsh, the new fitness “agility” tests consist of a “chain link fence climb,” a “solid wall climb,” a “99-yard agility run,” and a “rescue simulation.”
“It looks like an obstacle course set up for third graders at recess,” Walsh said. “My four-year-old daughter could pass this test. As a resident of Nashville, I can only hope that the only people committing crimes in this city are 600 pounds and have no legs. But even then they could probably roll away fast enough to escape.”
Under the old “ability” tests, Walsh added, recruits were required to complete sit-ups, a 300-meter sprint, and a 1.5-mile run, noting that even those tests “were not all that demanding.” Yet Nashville saw fit to lower those standards even more.
Indeed, in viewing the video Walsh posted, even a long-retired old guy like me could easily complete the “chain-link fence climb,” the “solid wall climb,” and the “99-yard agility run.” I would likely need O2 afterward, but it could be done.
This is not a knock on female police officers. I have worked with numerous female officers over the years, and honestly, some were better officers than some of the male officers I worked with. The issue is why police departments are lowering standards at a time when departments are short-handed, meaning officers are often put in a position of having to engage with the bad guys by themselves. Some male officers have difficulty in such situations.
As did I, Walsh took exception to the arbitrariness of the “30x30” initiative, arguing they were “two completely arbitrary numbers that no one ever attempts to explain or justify.”
The 30x30 program claims that, according to Walsh, “women are better cops because they use less force and less excessive force, and they’re named in fewer complaints and lawsuits, and they’re perceived by communities as being more honest and compassionate.”
“...if anything, a sane society would be having a conversation about how to decrease the number of women cops, which is to say we’d be having a conversation about how to get more physically fit men involved in policing,” Walsh continued.
“We wouldn’t be lowering standards and then throwing women into dangerous situations they’re not prepared for. That’s what a society does if it despises women.”
No matter how desperate police departments are for recruits, lowering standards is a fool’s errand. We’ve already seen the Los Angeles Police Department hire illegal aliens as police officers despite the fact that they are not legally allowed to carry firearms.
How ironic is it that the very cities and towns that criticized police training and recruitment for what they perceived as a “systemic” issue within policing are now advocating for lower training and recruitment standards?
You cannot make this stuff up.
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