It wasn’t the money that inspired Chicago Police Officer Regina Brown to train for almost four months, riding her bicycle along the lakefront and jogging near her home.
“I just wanted to prove I could do it,” said Brown, 61, one of more than 2,500 officers who passed the Police Department’s physical fitness test this year.
For the second year in a row, officers were eligible for a $250 bonus if they could run, stretch and lift enough to demonstrate they are physically fit. The goal is to encourage the force–often maligned for being out of shape–to slim down.
Most of the department’s roughly 13,500 officers still don’t take the test, but those who do usually pass.
“I think certainly it gives us a more positive image,” said Sgt. Jackie Campbell, coordinator of the program. This year, only 8 percent of those who took the test failed.
“The pass rate that we’ve got in front of us shows we’re in good shape,” Campbell said. “If you compare that to the doughnut-eating, overweight cop, you’d have to say that’s just a stereotype.”
The test is not new. The department used to give out small emblems that officers who passed could put on their uniforms. Campbell said that without the financial incentive, however, few took the test. Most years, about 350 officers signed up, and about 300 passed.
The city added the $250 bonus last year and saw the number of officers who took the test jump to 2,618. Of that number, 2,599 passed.
This year 2,756 officers took the test, and 2,541 passed.
To pass, officers must finish in the 30th percentile or better in four categories: a 1.5-mile run, bench press, sit-ups and a flexibility test. A 40-year-old man would have to complete the run in 15 minutes and 24 seconds, do 28 sit-ups, bench-press 79 percent of his body weight and reach a certain distance in the flexibility test. The standards for each officer vary based on sex and age.
Brown, who took the test three days before her 61st birthday in September, said it is not an easy test.
“You have to believe in yourself,” Brown said. “If you set your sights high enough, no matter what age, no matter what you have to do, you can reach the goal.”
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Compiled from RedEye news services.
