well written, Officer Michelle. Once again you managed to be informative, yet fair.

Height/weight proportional checks by themselves are not very useful. They should have performance based fitness test that correspond to the job being done.

Detective & higher level supervisors - very little fitness required
Jail guards - take down/subdue a suspect
On patrol -- run a significant distance, jump over fences, take down/subdue a suspect.

Y'all did catch that dig by the Officer Michelle/SPD against the SCSO heavyweights didn't ya?

"Regardless of which agency it was...Sacramento Police Department has a philosophy of physical fitness that pervades the organization beginning with our recruits...."

Yep, you citizens cant discriminate - you cant expect those that you pay VERY WELL to protect you to be in better shape than the criminals.

oh and while we're at it, those in wheelchairs and the blind should be hired as patrol officers as well - after all having employment standards IS by definition discrimination. Americans should not tolerate ANY form of discrimination.

I completely agree with the questioners thoughts and I think Officer Michelle avoided the topic. She wrote a nice piece, but it didn't really say a lot. So, basically, without saying it, she ratted out the Sheriff for employing an obese Sgt.all the while claiming Sac PD had rigourous standards, but in reality, they don't. They have a rigorous standard for recruits in the academy; big deal. Every department across the country does. But soon as they get out of the academy they can balloon up as large as they wish. Notice she said that after the academy, they get 2 hours a week to work out and they have a physical fitness coordinator that they CAN use if they have weight issues but there's nothing that says they HAVE to, and then they can't be fired because of possible "discrimination". She also said that MOST law enforcement agencies in the nation use height/weight proportional equations, but never mentioned what Sac PD's are. Then ends with "thanks for the opportunity to talk about the efforts of Sac PD toward Officer fitness". Quite the avoidance and it's ridiculous and it's far from Sac PD holding a "philosophy of physical fitness that pervades the organization".

Physical fitness is a mandatory part of the job and should by all means be exempt from any kind discrimination. They also have to take psych. evals, are we going to start saying that they can't be let go if they fail a psych. eval because it would be discrimination? Sure, let's let a crazy person run around with a gun and authority (sadly enough, it will probably happen sooner rather than later). Oh, and we can't discriminate on arrests, so how about we have a bunch of cops who have been arrested themselves? This world's never ceasing quest to stop offending everyone and equal rights and blah, blah, blah has just gone way too far. There are certain times and instances when it's perfectly acceptable to "discriminate" at a job, and this is one of them. But, we'll continue to see (Sac PD, Sheriff, CHP, all of them) with, not just chubby or overweight, but flat out obese, cops because the departments are too afraid to enforce something that might get them sued. It does nothing but put not only the citizens in danger but the cops themselves too. If you can't handle yourself in a physical altercation, you risk injury to yourself and the public. Just because they're a higher rank doesn't mean they don't still have to hit the streets or that it exempts them from a physical confrontation either. Any GOOD commander (be it Sgt, Lt, or even Chief) will be right out there with his "troops" when the time is called for. In reality, there's no such thing as sitting behind a desk full time in law enforcement and everyone should be held to mandatory, high standards in all areas of the job, including physical fitness. My commander in Dispatch had been behind a desk for years, never went out on the streets for anything other than to pick up uniforms, run errands, etc; she was an administrative commander. She had served 20+ years on the streets and eventually worked her way up to the "desk job". Fortunately for her, she stayed in peak physical condition. She went out to pick up some uniforms for the new recruits and when she got to the shop, a guy, completely unknown to the her or the department, no arrest history, nothing; he just went berserk and attacked her on the parking lot as soon as she got out of her car. It was like he was just waiting at a a cop uniform store for a cop to show up, he had nothing but attacking a cop on his mind and she was the first one he came across. Had she not been in her physical condition, the outcome could have been SO much worse. It only takes once, but since ya never know when that once is coming, you must be prepared for it at all times.

Mr. Knapp,
You are reading into it.....no digs.....nothing up my sleeve...just the facts.

A Yoni.....it is what is is...

Hey, Frank Cannon was huge and he always got his man - and what about 'Ironside'? solved the crime every time, despite being in a wheelchair..... Size isn't everything!