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- The Philadelphia Police Department is facing significant staffing shortages and is calling for a review of immigration requirements.
- The police department has decided to lower its physical examination requirements.
- Changes to policies such as tattoos, past drug use, physical fitness and college credit are being reconsidered by various departments across the country.
Faced with major police vacancies and concerns about public safety, the Philadelphia Police Department had to think creatively about how to attract more candidates. answer? The number of push-ups has decreased.
The city’s move to lower entrance physical exam requirements for the police academy is part of a broader effort nationwide to reevaluate policies that keep law enforcement applicants out of the job amid a hiring crisis.
Policies regarding tattoos, past drug use, physical fitness, and college credits are all being reconsidered to try to close the gap. Los Angeles subsidizes housing. Other departments, such as Washington, D.C., offer signing bonuses of $20,000 or more. Some states have expanded eligibility to noncitizens, and others have changed the minimum age for police officers to 18.
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A law signed late last year by Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro lowered the physical fitness requirements for applicants to be assessed in Philadelphia, from sit-ups to distance running to push-ups. The city, which like other large cities suffered high crime rates early in the pandemic, has struggled to fill vacancies in its police department.
Philadelphia Police Academy applicants who pass the reading exam will move on to the physical fitness exam, which will be held in Philadelphia on February 24, 2024. The city is moving to lower entrance physical exam requirements for the police academy as part of a broader national effort to reevaluate policies that keep police applicants out of the job amid a hiring crisis. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Under the new law, candidates can pass the exam with a lower threshold than previously required, which is now the 15th percentile of the standard the military uses for cadet exams. Depending on age and gender, he can do about 3 to 5 sit-ups or push-ups, or just add a few minutes to a 1.5-mile run.
Philadelphia is already feeling the fruits of its revised fitness entrance exam. Since the law went into effect, the pass rate for people taking the test has increased to 51%, up from 36% previously, said Capt. John Walker, the department’s recruiting officer.
Cadets still need to pass the current standard of being in the 30th percentile to graduate, but candidates will be given time to grow throughout the nine-month training period, Walker said.
“If you bring them in in reasonable, logical numbers, you get more talent and better opportunities,” he says.
Megan Bortner was one of 100 of 265 candidates to pass the exam at a recruitment event in February. After serving her four years as a police officer in Indiana, she moved to the city, where she passed the same physical fitness test as everyone else, regardless of gender or age.
Bortner, 33, who applied to join the team in Philadelphia, needed to complete a 1.5-mile run in under 20 minutes to pass the test under the new admission criteria. Previously, this required approximately 17 minutes to complete. She believes a lower threshold for entry means more recruits will have the chance to become officers, and a more diverse workforce in the community.
“If you’re feeling low on yourself or unsure of your athletic ability, I think this is a great starting point,” Bortner says.
Concerns about crime and public safety are top concerns for Philadelphians. This was a major factor in the recent mayoral election, with voters choosing Democratic candidate Sherrell Parker, who has vowed a tough-on-crime stance and is pushing for hundreds of more police officers to combat future issues. is.
It is expected to hire more recruits to fill about 836 vacancies among the department’s 6,000 officers. Combined with the approximately 470 officers who are unable to work the streets due to injuries, the department’s staffing levels are well below budget.
When evaluating policies to increase cadet recruitment, officers noted the impact of graduation-level physical fitness tests. In 2024, we hope to hire at least 350 new employees. This is her 167% increase in personnel employed.
“We serve a wide range of people, and I think it’s important to bring in people from all of those demographics,” Walker said. “I think that’s where police need to look at these barriers to entry, educate people about the opportunities, and listen to the people who are getting tested.”
Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a nonprofit police think tank based in Washington, D.C., said departments large and small across the country are facing challenges.
According to him, the resignation/retirement rate of officers is higher than that of applicants to become officers. Although more people are starting to apply, there are still gaps.
The jobs crisis is far more widespread than Wexler has ever seen. He said additional oversight placed on police officers in 2020 following the killing of George Floyd has affected the number of people applying for the job.
In Pennsylvania, the governor earlier this year removed the requirement for applicants to have at least 60 college credits to become a state trooper. Pennsylvania State Police said applications surged within a month, with nearly half of applicants previously ineligible.
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In Philadelphia, Tyler Durr, 29, was driven to become a public servant because he wanted to be one. After he passed his four stages of the physical exam, he said he found it easy.
“I think this is pretty easy for anyone who takes care of their health and is physically active,” he said, warning against lowering standards too much.
“I still believe that we should be held to high physical and moral standards,” he said.
This is something Wexler also warns about. You can tweak your criteria to open up wider opportunities, but don’t make the mistake of hiring.
“It only takes one bad cop to bring down a department and affect an entire city. We saw that in Minneapolis,” he said. “What you can’t go wrong with is your personality.”
