Background: The general physical task demands of law enforcement may suggest that police Officers are of similar fitness levels across cities, states and countries.
Objective: To investigate whether fitness levels of police Officers from two different United States (U.S.) Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA) are similar.
Methods: Retrospective data were analysed from two LEAs (LEA1 n = 79 and LEA2 n = 319). The data for Officers included: age, mass, 1-minute push-up repetitions, 1-minute sit-up repetitions, vertical jump height, 2.4 km run time (LEA 1) and 20-meter Multi-Stage Fitness Test results (LEA 2). Independent samples t-tests were used to compare anthropometric and fitness data between LEA with significance set at 0.05.
Results: Officers from LEA1 weighed significantly less and performed significantly better than Officers from LEA2 on all fitness measures. When comparing male Officers alone, there was no statistical difference in age and mass; nonetheless, Officers from LEA1 significantly outperformed Officers from LEA2 on all fitness measures.
Conclusion: While similarities / differences in job tasks performed between these two LEA are not known, the results from this study suggest differences in fitness between these two different U.S. LEA. Fitness standards and training protocols need to be developed and contextualized to each LEA's specific population and needs.
Keywords: Fitness standards; aerobic fitness; muscular endurance; muscular strength; physical fitness.