A new law is making it easier for more cadets to be considered and potentially become police officers in Philadelphia. Governor Josh Shapiro signed a law at the end of last year lowering the physical fitness requirements applicants are assessed on.
“Signed into law last December, the bill eases the minimum benchmark in a physical fitness test to the 15th percentile, from the 30th percentile, to accept recruits to the academy. That test includes sit-ups, push-ups, a 300-meter run, and a 1.5-mile run, and is scored based on cadets’ age and gender,” according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. The Inquirer adds that “to become employed as a police officer, cadets would still need to meet the previous 30th percentile standards.” The bill’s changes will be in place for five years.
Megan Bortner was one of the 100 out of 265 who passed her exams during a recruitment event in February. She thinks the lowered threshold for entry helps more recruits have a chance at becoming officers. Since the law took effect, Captain John Walker says 51% of people testing have passed compared to 36% previously. According to the Inquirer, “Since 2020, the Philadelphia Police Department has experienced a significant shortage of officers. It has about 6,500 employees, but has budgeted for 7,400 — and more than 800 officers have been enrolled in the Deferred Retirement Option Plan, intending to retire within four years.”
Full story: New law makes it easier for more people to become Philadelphia police officers
I think this is both a good idea and a bad idea. There is a reason why there are physical requirements to become a police officer. Yes, we need more people but what happens when that’s not enough? Are we going to change other requirements as well like the psych evaluation? The physical limitations could pose an issue when an officer is running after a suspect and can’t keep up because they’re out of shape.
Sarah, I think you make a really good point about the domino effect this could have on other requirements to becoming an officer. Obviously, agencies facing staffing shortages like this need to make changes, but I don’t think that lowering the bar for a position with so much power and discretion would improve anything. First, agencies need to explore other management strategies to see if there are any other crime control models that could be more effective with smaller numbers. The last thing we need is a bunch of people with physical or mental deficiencies being told to protect communities in high stress situations.
Making it easier for one to become an officer is good, but only if the situation and context behind such makes sense. I think that it should depend on if they are lacking numbers or qualified officers. If its the first one, they need to make it easier, and quality would require a longer process with more training.
I’m not entirely sure if they needed to make this change, or were in a sort of situation requiring more officers. That being said, my question is what was the reasoning behind the change? Also, secondary question, what are the expected results from such change?
Hunter, I agree with your comment. I agree with only having to change if needed. While change can become a good thing should we change the way our standards are just for people to pass? I agree with your statement if we make the physical side easier then we should make the training longer to make the process up. This new law does open new job opportunities for many we shouldn’t have to lower standards to do this. Even in the military, they’re changing physical fitness standards to allow more people to enter the military, but this turn is in the right direction for change.
Hunter, the change comes due to the hiring crisis law enforcement agencies are facing all over the country. Law enforcement agencies are attempting to make the process easier and more appealing to attract candidates. I am not completely opposed to the reductions as they are still required to pass a physical fitness test and other tests to ensure they would be a good fit for the department. With continuous group exercise, the cadet would, over time, be able to meet harder physical requirements. I also think about many officers that are currently serving, would many of the senior officers be able to pass the same physical fitness test they took as a cadet?
With the new changes being made by the Philadelphia PD with becoming a police officer, how does this change ensure the officers will be fit enough to perform the duties of a police officer? While this decrease in fitness standards does allow more people to become officers and have more job opportunities how will this work out in the real world with chasing criminals? This new law does open new job opportunities for many we shouldn’t have to lower standards to do this. Even in the military, they’re changing physical fitness standards to allow more people to enter the military, but this turn is in the right direction for change.