to agree that fat coppers need to slim down

[shagmundfreud]

... or have their pay docked. Or something.

Rarely in agreement with government plans for anything, but now that over 50% of male policemen are apparently officially overweight, I think plans to encourage force them to lose weight are a very good thing.

How can they possibly chase and catch criminals (who are mostly young and fit and scared) if they're carrying extra poundage?

Want to add, interesting that smaller percentage of women coppers are fat, given that a higher percentage of females than males are overweight in the general population.

So, just so I understand. Overweight = Unfit & Unhealthy?

People do realise that you can be fit & healthy and still be overweight surely.

I don't agree, it doesn't necessarily have to do with weight.

For instance, in wrestling there are weight classes because generally a lightweight has zero chance of beating a heavyweight, no matter how slim or fit they are.

The U.S. men's water polo team also have some team members that are a little on the heavy side. I challenge you to find many people who are fitter than them or who would happily take one of them on. That is a rough rough sport and they are incredibly strong and very used to grappling.

Someone else pointed out rugby players, some of them are very fleet of foot but not light in the belly department.

I think a fitness test would be way more appropriate and only for those who are likely to have to run or grapple in their line of work. There are many who have no need to do so.

On the BMI charts my brother is overweight, last year he completed a 1/2 marathon running it he is now in training to do a full marothon he also does football 3 times a week and works on a building site.

Weight has nothing to do with fitness

Hopefully so and they won't be getting rid of good coppers on capability grounds because their BMI is too high. And thinking about it is this a cynical way of trimming the numbers (pardon the pun) on the cheap?

dh can run 6 miles easily as I've said further down - he's a little overweight but doesn't have a belly. My sister's dh is skinny as a rake, smokes 20 a day and downs 8 cans of lager most nights. He can't run for a bus.

Maybe fat parents should be made to slim down too?? And fat teachers, nurses, doctors etc...

Perhaps we should just round up ALL fat people and then BURN THEM.

it doesn't matter how competent they are, how much experience they have, what value they add to society they are FAT and must go.

Ridiculous. Perhaps we should ban all morally bankrupt politicians

No, not them, just their excess fat.

I dont think fat has ever added value to anybody or anything, really. Do you?

its about fitness. Just like the army or fire brigade.

i think they need to wear taupe, it;s altogether a nicer colour

You know, there isn't actually anything wrong with saying it's not good to be fat.

There isn't anything wrong with saying that it restricts you.

Not saying it doesn't make it not true

It doesn't mean you're a bad person, it doesn't mean you're stupid, it doesn't mean anything other than you are carrying too much weight and it is affecting you.

Me. Swap you for me. I'm fat. It's caused me a lot of problems. At my fattest I weighed 36 stone. You don't function at that weight, or anything close to it. Avoiding the subject doesn't make it not real, not true.

I think people get very emotional and defensive about the subject, and act like it's some horrible attack on the very heart of the person to gently suggest that they are very unfit and it might be a good idea to do something about it.

It's not. It's really, really not. It's just a fact. A fact is not a judgement of the person. We can talk about the facts of chronic unfitness to the point that it impairs you without acting like someone is being tarred and feathered, surely?

Just because someone weighs a lot does not mean they are unfit. There is still a height requirement for some forces, especially for females. I could never do it, but I do know many police officers/ sergeants and they work so hard and are under so much pressure the tv programmes only show the "interesting" bits. Yes there are some that could be fitter, but most of them do keep up with their fitness as they could be asked to pass a physical or medical at any time.

To add. It's simple physics. Small things can move faster than big things.

Riiiiiiiiiiiight! Usain Bolt is 6' 5" and just shy of 15 stone.

BMI can be such a load of old bollocks.

My 16 yr old is scary good at sports, it is his thing. He is in amazing physical shape and yet his BMI usually is on the obese side, especially when he is training.

Agree Hecate. We've had nurses unable to help lift or roll dd because of their own weight or fitness issues (dd is 8 and weights 17 kg, but needs lifting and total care)
Its not attacking the person its pointing out that extra weight makes their job tricky.
I use a wheelchair. You wouldnt think I'd make a good paramedic, fire-person or copper because I wouldnt. I couldnt perform the job. Just a fact.

Another vote for a fitness not weight test. (although, I concede that over a certain weight that's much the same thing- but I want the unfit skinnys out too!!).

I reckon if you are 18 stone and grappling with a seven stone scrote resisting arrest you will have the advantage??

The weight/shape of anyone is their choice and should not be dictated by employers/government

And if you're 18 stone and unfit, you could do a lot of damage to a 7 stone scrote. It's being agile and physically capable to cope with the demands of the job.

I am a slightly fat copper according to my bmi. Never lost anyone in a foot pursuit and I have a high arrest rate with a good conviction rate on my cases.

What Tom Winsor neglected to mention is he is referring to a flawed statistic in this how overweight we all are bit of his report that the press have all jumped on. The met ran a program asking for any officers and staff that were concerned about their weight or fitness and wanted help with it or had been referred by Occy health. Winsor has taken that small group and has suggested that is representative of all officers

The other thing to think of is my little bit of bulk is useful when I'm restraining someone bigger than me or wearing all of my kit, belt, vest and boots weigh a stone on their own, not fun to run in at all!

quintessentially got it in one. If they can pass a reasonably stringent fitness test, weight isn't really an issue.

Another vote for fitness assessment rather than weight as such. Would also say its relevant for firefighters as well as the police & potentially a number of other professions also.

What I don't understand is why there aren't annual fitness tests. If fitness tests are part of recruitment, they must be considered important for the job, so why are they not ongoing?

Other professions require annual/periodical assessment of skills / capability, so why not police officers?

I don't normally reply on AIBU, but thought I would on this.

How many times do you think we actually have to chase after people? There is obviously a huge misconception that we spend our whole shift doing it, when actually, its pretty rare. Most of the time, if you're a frontline officer, you're in a car, due to the huge area you cover. Its not particularly often you "happen" upon crime, its jobs you get sent to.

Even when I was fit (ish!) when I had just joined, if a suspect ran, there wasn't much chance of me running after them. I'm not speedy, and I'm wearing a stab vest that weighs a stone, so am already at a massive disadvantage. If I'm in a situation where someone looks likely to run, its far easier to spray them and incapacitate them that way so they can be arrested.

Now I'm not fit in the slightest, and yes, am one of these many cops you refer to as overweight. Does it stop me doing my job effectively - NO. I'm a detective, work in the fraud department, go out and do arrests, interview suspects, take statements etc, and not once in there have I ever needed to run after anyone.

Departments like firearms and dog officers have regular tests, as they are departments where running is to be expected, particularly with the dogs.

How do you think this is going to effect people who have got over 25 years service, are fairly aged and perhaps overweight, and haven't done a fitness test since they joined? Is it fair to them to suddenly bring this in when its not what they signed up to? If they've been able to do their role effectively for all this time without a fitness test, what has suddenly changed?

Also, the fire brigade has mandatory fitness testing, but are also given time during work to go to the gym etc. So are the military. Do you think the police are going to be given this time - the report says not. So, in between working shifts all hours of the day and night, having shifts being changed at short notice, having rest days cancelled, being ordered to return to work, not being able to have leave when we want it, trying to fit a home life in between all of this, we are now going to someone find the time to train for a fitness test as well? All on the say so of some moron who actually doesn't have a clue how the police work or what our job involves.

I agree that people should be healthy - I myself am on a diet and have lost 2.5 stone since New Year (doing exante). However, the general public need to lose the idea that we spend all the time running after people, as we don't!

Sorry but agree with kel I watched a lot of these police documentaries and often the police either cannot finish a chase because they are too fat and are out if shape witch then involves them getting out the police heliecopter and the heat seekers . Or they are not fit enough to boot a door in by which time the little toe rag is out the back door has jumped 9 garden fences.

My sister is a prison guard and they have to be fit they have to pass a fitness test of face loosing their job also the women have to be as string as the men if not their out.

In my view police should be army fit police who are fit ageile and strong cut out the need for many officers to subdue one suspect and also use less equipment often fat coppers are the first to go for the taser or cs gas because they are to fat to fight quite frankly

Also if your to fat to run or kick arse your not only a danger to your self your a danger to your work mates whose life you may be to fat to very well save

In my view ALL emergancey services should be army fit granted if your in the back office with no chance of ever dealing with the public then fine but

In my own experince I have personally seen a police man take a beating and in my view he was overpowered because he was very overweight and did not have the stammner to over come the guy he pulled over

Ilovefluffysheep sorry but I don't agree their are plenty in the army who are over 25 and would give some of the fat fuckers in the met who have just joined a run for their money

I'm my view it's not about chasing people but being able to handle your self I often see 5 fatty police men trying to subdue one guy why because their unfit

It drains resourse personally it shouldn't need 5 or six police to deal with one scum bag but because your all so unfit this sadly happens

Also on a side not I think fat hospital staff is a bit hmmm espically
when your talking to people about loosing weight themselves.

Surely its the fitness that's key rather than actual weight.

My friend's DH is a Police Officer and has said before that one of the hardest (physical) parts of the job is the requirement to go from sitting in a patrol car to running full pelt in the space of a couple of seconds. No chance to 'warm up' as you would do at the gym.

I worry that unfit officers would injure themselves doing this.

Mrbojangles1: of course, what they show in the documentaries is what happens day in day out..............NOT

If they showed what officers actually had to do on a day to day basis, it would send people to sleep. Of course they're going to show all the exciting action that makes it look interesting.

Watching officers do all their paperwork that they HAVE to do would be exciting as watching paint dry (and doesn't require an officer to have to be fit!).

As I said, the departments that generally do get involved with this kind of stuff DO have regular tests, its part of being in that department.