By Terry Baxter, Law Enforcement and Safety Specialist
The Law enforcement and correction officer occupation is an unpredictable environment and has a lot of physically demands. Due to these factors, officers are at a higher risk of sustaining on the job injuries more so than any other profession.
Due to the nature of core activities associated with law enforcement and corrections tasks, new hires are required to complete a physical and a battery of fitness testing to ensure they can meet the standards implemented through state certification requirements but also, to meet the ability of the jobs daily demands. However very few agencies offer fitness programs and usually physical fitness levels are no longer evaluated or required to maintain job status. Many of us fell under these standards, I certainly did during my career, but where I was fortunate I never got hurt in the line of duty, oh I was stiff and sore many times, but was lucky enough not to have an injury sideline me or take me out of service for an extended period of time.
Every law enforcement and correction officer must be able to run, climb, jump, left, carry, drag, push and apply physical force, you never know when this type of activity will occur. Since 1976 the Cooper Institute worked with fitness programs to shape and influence fitness programs for law enforcement across the nation. The fitness testing validated an officer’s ability to perform essential and critical physical demands associated with the profession.
I attended a conference in Des Moines many years back where a fitness instructor presented on job-related injuries, wellness and health. A comment he made which has always stuck with me was;
“ When you accept to wear a badge, you accept responsibility, you no longer have the privilege of being unfit. Many of you in this class were required to pass physical standards to attend the academy, the reason the standards are in place you must be prepared and be ready to handle any task or physical challenge that comes your way.”
I am not being hypocritical on this topic, as I mentioned before I didn’t maintain a level of fitness throughout my career, and I discovered during physical confrontations I needed to quickly get the situation under control before fatigue sat in. I did however try to implement a voluntary fitness and wellness programs to enhance and improve fitness levels, not everyone bought in on the concept, usually the seasoned officers, but the younger generation did, and you could clearly see the benefit. Those who participated approved in mobility, had a tolerance to fatigue, reduced being physically challenged and had minimal on the job injuries.
I remember my dad telling me when I was younger, a person who wears a badge is a cut above the rest. That doesn’t mean we are better than everyone else, it basically means you are held to a higher standard, you set the bar for others. I mentioned this before, this job comes with a lot of responsibility, be proud of your profession. Stay well, stay healthy and stay safe…Hope your holidays are a quiet one.
For more information and/or training, contact Terry Baxter, Law Enforcement and Safety Specialist – terry@nirma.info – (402)-742-9220
