Physical Fitness Standards for LEOs Need To Be Raised

A quick rant, since this keeps coming up in social media…

If people are really concerned about police use of force (which contrary to uninformed opinion is not a significant problem in the US) I think it is necessary that we raise physical fitness standards for officers.

Force is a continuum. On one end we have light touch which may be used to indicate to someone what we want them to do, on the other end we have lethal force, a level capable of causing injuries severe enough to result in death.

Ideally, when defending yourself or, if you have a duty to act, attempting to apprehend or restrain someone who is using force against you, you should use only only as much force as necessary to protect yourself or subdue them without causing them any more harm than necessary.

The goal is not to hurt or kill the other person. The goal is to prevent them from hurting or killing you (or subduing them if you have a duty to do so).

To do this you have to be able to adjust your level of force to match or exceed theirs. Ideally you want to match it so that you do not harm them any more than necessary, however if you are not able to match it exactly you will need to use the lowest level force option you have that still exceeds theirs which usually means some kind of weapon.

For example, if on a scale of 1 to 100 your ability to use force unarmed maxes out at 20 and your attacker is using 30 you need a tool that increases your ability to use force to over 30. If the only tool you have increases the force to 50 or more you would be justified in using it, and the harm done to them would still be entirely their fault, but it would be better if you were able to stop them with only 30 and cause them less harm.

The better your training and your physical condition the more force you are capable of and the more effectively you will be able to scale that force to the appropriate level.

Defensive tactics training is probably far more important but physical condition can make a huge difference. The stronger and better conditioned you are the more options you have and the LESS you will need to hurt someone to successfully defend yourself or subdue them.

When physical fitness standards are lowered for police, whether to accommodate cops that don’t stay in shape or women who are naturally smaller and weaker than men on average, the average LEO’s ability to effectively use unarmed force goes down making them more reliant on force multipliers. They are still justified in using as much force as necessary to protect themselves or subdue an assailant, but this may result in the level of force being higher and the harm being greater in many situations than if they were in better shape.

Again, the goal is NOT to hurt or kill someone but to stop them from doing whatever it is they’re not supposed be doing and if you have to use more force to do so it is the attackers fault not yours. They do NOT have a right to attack you. You DO have a right to defend yourself. If you are a LEO you DO have a right to defend yourself and a duty to protect others and apprehend them. It is ENTIRELY THEIR FAULT if you have to hurt or kill them because it was their actions that made doing so necessary. However, if there is anything you CAN do to be able to protect yourself or subdue criminals while causing less harm you SHOULD do it.

There is no question in my mind that LEOs should be required to meet high physical standards for their safety and everyone else’s. I suspect this is going to piss off some union members and some female officers, but if you aren’t stronger and better conditioned than the average male you probably shouldn’t be in a job where your life or someone else’s may some day depend on it.