New York Police Department’s Head of Training revealed that they have removed the 1.5-mile timed run from their fitness requirements for new recruits.
Holmes claimed that the timed run was unnecessary for a police officer and only held women back from being qualified for the job.
She told the Post that no cop on patrol runs more than a mile. “No one is chasing anyone for more than a mile and half. You can also train every day at the gym for a mile and half.
Holmes supported lower fitness standards. However, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Swell disagreed, sparking a fight within the agency.
According to a source from the police, Sewell was in favor of the “run” and opposed the state’s decision to remove it.
The timed run has been scrapped. Instead, recruits will be able to take the Job Standard Test. This multi-step course involves several stations including the barrier surmount and stair climb. It also includes physical restraint, pursuit, victim rescue, trigger pull, and physical restraint. According to a recruitment video posted on the department’s YouTube channel.
The department removed the requirement for fitness in summer 2022 by replacing the 6-foot barrier wall that was used to surmount it with a chain-link fence. It is much easier to climb.
The NYPD increased the time limit for the Job Standard Test last Year from three minutes and 28 second to four minutes, 28 seconds in order to increase the number eligible recruits.
The NYPD has had a difficult time hiring new officers to replace the record number of retirees.
The NYPD has met the state’s physical fitness standards, according to the department. “The requirements for daily physical training and tactics at our Police Academy, which includes running almost every day, remain unchanged.”
An officer from Brooklyn called the lower standards “embarrassing” considering that most NYPD hopefuls were in their 20s.
The officer said to the Post that you could probably walk it. “It’s a mile and a half in just 14 minutes. It’s a slow walk… The standards have been dropped for years. Shame on them for failing to push people.
Eugene O’Donnell is a Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He was a former NYPD officer and pointed to the defunding of police movements.
O’Donnell stated that they were the ones that did it and that they will have to deal with the consequences in a department where only the utterly fit are allowed to remain in the pool.
He said that the decision to reduce the requirements was made “out of sheer desperation”, which will adversely impact public safety.
Holmes said that 42 of the NYPD’s previous timed-run entrants were graduated Monday by the NYPD.
