Fitness and the UK police

[XCP]

I never used to chase youngsters. If I didn't get them in the first couple of yards, I didn't get them. I'd hopefully unleash one of the faster colleagues.

I was large (17 stone plus) by any standards and consequently used to get picked on a self defence lessons.

I can remember one instructor telling me to 'come at him' so he could demonstrate some clever move. 'do what you like' he said. I just picked him up by the throat with one hand and held him off the ground against the wall. Sometimes fat boys have their uses!

[Derek Smith]

XCP said:

I never used to chase youngsters. If I didn't get them in the first couple of yards, I didn't get them. I'd hopefully unleash one of the faster colleagues.

I was large (17 stone plus) by any standards and consequently used to get picked on a self defence lessons.

I can remember one instructor telling me to 'come at him' so he could demonstrate some clever move. 'do what you like' he said. I just picked him up by the throat with one hand and held him off the ground against the wall. Sometimes fat boys have their uses!

It used to irritate me when in a patrol car in the days when I was rather slim, and I'd say rather attractive, that in any dispute a group would pick on me rather than my fat colleague. This was balanced by the advantages of having a fat colleague when picked on by a group - when he eventually got to me that is.

After 30 years in the job, and a number of chases on foot, I doubt I have arrested more than handful of offenders after chasing them who would not have been nicked in any case. Probably no more than two or three. The only advantage of being faster and fitter was that I could nick them before the blokes in cars or who've known the area better than me so worked out where they were headed, and even then I'd be written out by CID.

[Rovinghawk]

Derek Smith said:

It used to irritate me when in a patrol car .........a group would pick on me rather than my fat colleague.

having a fat colleague ........... when he eventually got to me that is.

Must have been a bloody big patrol car or a VERY slow copper.

[anonymous-user]

2Btoo said:

La Liga said:

- Spain has over twice as many police officers per 100k of the population vs the UK (533 vs 227).

If that's true (and I have no reason to doubt it) then it's a pretty shocking statistic.

Indeed. And pretty much the only routinely unarmed force too.

There is a Wiki page on the matter, but some of the data is likely to be out given the age. It's perfectly possible to search police numbers and population from up-to-date sources, but it gives you an idea: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_an...

Rovinghawk said:

La Liga said:

- We operate at over 96% of our prison capacity on a continuous basis and have one of the highest prison populations in Europe per 100k. That's an indication of an organisation that's 'up to the job'.

Note items 1 & 9 for an alternative view.

https://www.durham.police.uk/About-Us/Documents/Pe...

[Tannedbaldhead]

Never underestimate a fat Polis.

Worse chase of my life (probably coz I got caught) was from a copper on foot in the old heavy woollen coats they wore back in the 1980s (worn over the thick woollen tunic with the silver buttons and belt) He was a big fat bugger as well. I was 17 and on the school cross country team so thought I would leave him for dead.

Alas, he was either a superfit rugby player or had the build of Mo Farah under all those layers of uniform because inspite me being bloody quick he eventually caught me. Strange thing was after all that effort he let me go as he couldn't be bothered writing my multisyllabic Italian name into his book. (I st you not. The conversation went "Name..."
"Tannido Baldheadio."
"Do you think 'am spending all day writing that down?")

I think he was happy enough to show me that he could catch me.

[XCP]

Derek Smith said:

It used to irritate me when in a patrol car in the days when I was rather slim, and I'd say rather attractive, that in any dispute a group would pick on me rather than my fat colleague. This was balanced by the advantages of having a fat colleague when picked on by a group - when he eventually got to me that is.

After 30 years in the job, and a number of chases on foot, I doubt I have arrested more than handful of offenders after chasing them who would not have been nicked in any case. Probably no more than two or three. The only advantage of being faster and fitter was that I could nick them before the blokes in cars or who've known the area better than me so worked out where they were headed, and even then I'd be written out by CID.

I also made an effective roadblock. One night a man running along the pavement alongside a line of parked cars carrying a stolen TV came towards me. I just dropped one shoulder and the force of the impact caused him to simultaneously bite the end of his tongue off and defecate in his pants. The custody officer was suitably impressed.

[vsonix]

Sitting in Barca, how many of the locals look unfit or overweight?

It's the Mediterranean diet, warmer weather and sunshine. Much better conditions for humans to exist under. I moved to the UK from hotter climes at the age of 8 and I swear I've never got used to the way my metabolism feels like it's slowed down by 80% for most of the year. I never had problems with my weight till I moved here, and whenever I spend any length of time in warmer climes (France, Italy) I generally drop about 2 stone without even trying.

[Derek Smith]

I used to take the mickey out of my fat colleague. I called it a running joke, or in his case a waddling joke. He got back at me once.

He nearly took hold of a burglar escaping from a factory. I'd gone round the back and as he called out I ran round to see the burglar running towards me. He turned and I tackled him, bringing us both to the ground. He hurt his arm and knee, I got a few scratches to my elbows and my calf.

The chap made a big fuss of his injuries and we expected it to be brought up at the trial. I was asked about the arrest and said that I had tried to grab him before he ran off into unlit waste ground. I was asked what injuries the chap had received and I pointed out that I had not examined him. I'd got injuries and so had he and in such cases we were to be kept apart for reasons of cross infection. Although I didn't mention it, mainly fear of AIDS and hepatitis. That's from him to me.

The prosecution brief in direct asked my colleague if I had used a 'rugby tackle' to arrest the running offender. My colleague said: "I don't know what you mean by rugby tackle." The judge intervened and said: 'Just describe what you saw, officer.'

He said: 'PC Smith sort of jumped at him, tried to get his arms around the offender, gradually slid down and then held on for his life when he got to the legs.'

The judge said: 'Yes, officer, that's more or less a rugby tackle.'

Everyone laughed, all seemingly looking at me. I had to sit and take it.

The offender went down for the second time a few days later.

[Brigand]

RWD cossie wil said:

numtumfutunch said:

My brother is in the RAF and is pushing 50

He claims his annual physical has a higher required standard than that needed by teenagers signing up

Obviously he may be spinning me a yarn......

A 50 Yr old bloke has to run to a higher standard than an 18 year old girl.... true story! (The VO2 max based "bleep test", push ups & sit ups are split into age groups & gender with varying levels for each group. Naturally the standard decreases as you get older, but the very young Female standards cross over with the older bloke!)

In my RAF days it always annoyed me that I was required to reach level 9.10 on the bleep test so I could be fit enough to sit behind a desk, yet the coppers out there chasing baddies only had to reach 5.10. Earlier this year a housemate was going through her police training and it was still 5.10 she was required to reach.

I hated that bloody bleep test!

[Bigends]

I always managed to keep reasonably fit without exercise. Took and passed my last bleep test and re-certifications a month before retiring. I could still complete the 400 meter shield run on PSU only a few years before. Most of us were reasonably fit and could pass the tests and I dont recall having any real porkers on my shift - certainly we all passed though there was no sanction then for failing. I'll find out in the morning how the cops I work with now faired today.

[XCP]

Derek Smith said:

I used to take the mickey out of my fat colleague. I called it a running joke, or in his case a waddling joke. He got back at me once.

He nearly took hold of a burglar escaping from a factory. I'd gone round the back and as he called out I ran round to see the burglar running towards me. He turned and I tackled him, bringing us both to the ground. He hurt his arm and knee, I got a few scratches to my elbows and my calf.

The chap made a big fuss of his injuries and we expected it to be brought up at the trial. I was asked about the arrest and said that I had tried to grab him before he ran off into unlit waste ground. I was asked what injuries the chap had received and I pointed out that I had not examined him. I'd got injuries and so had he and in such cases we were to be kept apart for reasons of cross infection. Although I didn't mention it, mainly fear of AIDS and hepatitis. That's from him to me.

The prosecution brief in direct asked my colleague if I had used a 'rugby tackle' to arrest the running offender. My colleague said: "I don't know what you mean by rugby tackle." The judge intervened and said: 'Just describe what you saw, officer.'

He said: 'PC Smith sort of jumped at him, tried to get his arms around the offender, gradually slid down and then held on for his life when he got to the legs.'

The judge said: 'Yes, officer, that's more or less a rugby tackle.'

Everyone laughed, all seemingly looking at me. I had to sit and take it.

The offender went down for the second time a few days later.

At least you didn't have to demonstrate on the Usher.

[Greendubber]

I dont think the bleep is any good at all to be honest

When joining I did an assault course with a shuttle run and then straight onto a push pull machine. It was far more relevant to police work than running up and down an empty gym.

The fact of the matter is that a lot of bobbies stay in shape as it might give them the upper had against someone else but at the same time some bobbies have no pride in even their boots so they wont be taking pride in themselves.

[Derek Smith]

Greendubber said:

I dont think the bleep is any good at all to be honest

When joining I did an assault course with a shuttle run and then straight onto a push pull machine. It was far more relevant to police work than running up and down an empty gym.

The fact of the matter is that a lot of bobbies stay in shape as it might give them the upper had against someone else but at the same time some bobbies have no pride in even their boots so they wont be taking pride in themselves.

The test of any officer is how well they can do their job.

Fitness came to the fore from biased leaks from government, the suggestion being that we were poorly served by a force where so many were unfit. The statistics quoted were more or less made up and demonstrably wrong, but that didn't stop the papers responding to the lead from the government.

One of the best DIs I ever worked with weighed about 8 stone and was 5'10" and ran marathons as a hobby before it became fashionable. He wasn't a sprinter, even I could outpace him over distances up to 400m, but he could run for days. He occasionally ran into work of a morning and if he wasn't too late off would run home again. Yet he hardly ever left his office. If he was in charge of a major enquiry he'd sleep in his office of a night. So his ability to run was no advantage to him. There's little call for an endurance runner on patrol either come to that.

His fitness was of course, a great help when under the pressures of a major incident, or of a major idiot as a senior officer, but when he got tired, even if at work, he'd fall asleep. If you knocked on his office door he'd be fully awake by the time you entered, despite seeing him sparko in his chair.

The best radio controller I had when I was in charge of an area control room - 60 staff - was obese. She would east three chocolate bars in a shift. She was magic though. She could keep a number of strings to an incident live in her mind. She'd hardly ever have to page back through a serial to find out who it was she had to notify or what the hell a PC was referring to. After an evacuation of a massive area that took over an hour, the rest of the crew applauded her. I was in awe of her.

So I didn't care how fat or unfit people were. If they did their job well, or in the case of the controller, did it brilliantly, then that's all I needed to know.

I used to cycle into work every day, at one nick it took over 45 mins, that's an hour and a half off road - which is more exhausting than a road bike for the same time. I would then cycle during the lunch break, only for half an hour. I was very fit, the fittest police officer in my department. Didn't make me any better, or maybe even good, at my job though.

Using one criterion to judge a police officer by is nonsensical. One of the most respected old style CID clerks, ie in charge of all admin, records and other details, only had one functioning leg. The other one was destroyed in the Old Bailey bomb of 1973, the one where Price, one of the bombers, suggested that the injured had only themselves to blame because they were there.

He'd pass the bleep test by the number of bleeps you'd have to sound if you asked him his opinion of such a basic test.

[Red 4]

wack said:

Compare that to the coppers seen on TV puffing and panting when someone legs it it was quite a surprise to see such a young fit police force

There's an annual fitness test for officers in England and Wales (I'm unsure of the current requirements in Scotland).

The current required standard for most officers is quite low (about 3 and a half minutes on a 15 metre shuttle run) but the standard required does vary dependent on role (firearms officers, for example, have to do more).

My opinion is that all officers should be fit - however, when you combine fitness testing with the police reforms that were brought in recently (see the Winsor report) and increased retirement ages you begin to see what these tests are really all about; i.e. getting rid of officers before they reach retirement age.

Expect the tests to get more difficult in the future. Winsor wanted the PSNI test to be used from 2018.

[Bigends]

Officers have a duty of care to each other and should be fit and able to assist and support their colleagues. The days of the big old wheezy, time served controller, collator or uniformed clerk getting inside jobs are long gone now. Unless on restricted duties everybody has to be in a position to carry out their default role - out on the streets

Edited by Bigends on Tuesday 11th October 22:18

[LaneDiesel]

There is now a mandatory fitness test every year for all Police Officers, with the standard being level 5.4 on the bleep test. This of course increases for Public Order trained staff, Dog Handlers, AFO's etc.

It is an improvement on the old days where you passed it on your first application and that was it!

[Löyly]

Eh? There are loads of fat soldiers. But don't let that put you off lusting after these fit, young Spanish men.

[TTommy]

5.4 on the bleep test is barely a brisk walk.

I think that's that, then...

• Insert donut joke here*

[wack]

vsonix said:

Sitting in Barca, how many of the locals look unfit or overweight?

Very few, especially the women I've never seen so many fit (sexy) women in my life, compare that to a walk round any UK town centre where the UK girls live on a diet of crisps and Jeremy Kyle and I felt ashamed to be british.

When I've been abroad in the past seeing armed police has made me feel slightly nervous but the world has changed now, I was opposed to the UK police being armed but when I see how many people one man and a truck can kill I wonder if it's time,He ploughed through dozens before being shot, If that had happened here it could have been much worse

[quote=Löyly]Eh? There are loads of fat soldiers. But don't let that put you off lusting after these fit, young Spanish men

If that's what you've read into my post I think it says more about you than me

Edited by wack on Friday 14th October 17:01

Edited by wack on Friday 14th October 17:02

Edited by wack on Friday 14th October 17:03

[7795]

Given the choice, if there was a bit of bovver, i'd rather PC Stamp turned up instead of PC Hollis....!!