Chicago’s Finest Men in Blue
Chicago has approximately 13,500 police officers. During 2003, the police department administered a strictly voluntary physcial fitness exam. The good news is only 8% failed. The bad news is that only 2,756, or 20% of the force actually took the exam. What’s worse is that the police department had to effectively bribe its officers to take the exam by offering a $250 bonus if they passed.

I wonder what the physical state is of the 80% who didn’t take the exam?

The only job I’ve ever had where phyiscial fitness was required was in the Army. The tests weren’t voluntary and we weren’t offered bonuses as an incentive to pass. If we failed the test, we were less than honorably discharged. In otherwords, if we weren’t in shape, we were fired and left with the blight of a federal conviction - the discharge - on our record. Being physically fit was part of the job reqirement.
I would think and hope the same thing would be required of our police officers.