REALLY???!!?

As I deliver the paper every morning I steal glances at the front page. Today there is a story called "Shaping up the force". It is about the Idaho Falls police department and the desire of the chief to 'whip' his officers into shape. We all know the jokes; donuts, bacon, here piggie, piggie. So I was interested and thought it sounded like a good idea, until I read further.

Police Chief Roos said, "Overall, I think our department is very good at physical fitness. We do have a few exceptions." Well then, let your few exceptions get in shape or get booted. The problem here is that policy officers should be expected to be fit, they may be required to pursue a suspect on foot, on rare occassions they may have to engage in hand to hand combat. Those kind of things take endurance. I know that it would be hard to keep extra pounds off as you cruise around in your patrol car, but please.

If your department is already in shape for the most part, why are you asking for $35,000 to reward those who can pass a test they really should be able to pass anyway.

Here is the list of requirements to get a fitness bonus if this program becomes reality;

Perform a vertical jump of 14 inches. (WOW!! 14, that's high, wait, it's not really, not at all)

Complete 15 sit-ups in one minute. (What do they define as a sit-up, I can guarantee that some of their officers can not do this)

Do 21 push-ups in a row. (I give them some credit here, push-ups suck)

Run 300 meters in less than 77 seconds. (A highschool sprinter does 100 meters in twelve seconds or so. A fully loaded cop better be able to make it 3/4 of the way around the track in less than 77 seconds, maybe they can put donuts at the finish line. OOPS, I typed that out didn't I?)

Complete a 1.5 mile run/walk in less then 17 minutes, 17 seconds. (7920 feet in 17 minutes? really? Something like 12 minutes would actually be challenging)

Quit smoking. (Good idea in general)

Keep body fat ratio below the obese level, which is 25 percent. (I'm chunky, and maybe at my fattest my body fat was above 25 percent)

The plan is to reward the officers who can pull this off with $50 for every year they have been on the force. 20 year vet could get $1000. Nice bonus, but seriously these guys should be held to a little higher standard healthwise anyway. Their job is to serve and protect, if that is your job, you should be expected to be prepared to perform it, not need an invitation and reward for doing something that you should have in the first place.