Police officer physical fitness to work: A case for health and fitness training
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14198/jhse.2016.114.06Keywords:
Police force, Health and fitness testingAbstract
There is no reference point currently available to the Irish police force (An Garda Síochána) for measurement of baseline physical fitness or for tracking its current members, as no such data exists. Currently there is no defined health and fitness policy or strategy following a trainee Irish police force two year training period. Measurements of the various health-related components of physical fitness have been developed and, in some cases, standardised, with good to excellent accuracy and reliability (American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM, 2011), as physiological measures (as a proxy for actual physical fitness) with predictive accuracy of an individual’s health outcomes better than physical activity recall (Bovet et al., 2007). These measures were utilised within this research to ascertain if there were fitness changes within a group of Irish police force trainees during their period in college training. An improvement was predicted for the trainee group that was at odds with the actual findings. The focus of this particular study is to provide the information to establish if there is a need for mandatory health and fitness testing (while allowing for individual differences) for this unique Irish work force.
Downloads
References
American College of Sports Medicine (2011). Available at: http://www.acsm.org/about-acsm/media-room/news-releases/2011/08/01/acsm-issues-new-recommendations-on-quantity-and-quality-of-exercise (accessed October 2015).
American College of Sports Medicine (2014). Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 9th edition, Baltimore, Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins.
American Heart Association (2015). Understating blood pressure Available at:http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/HighBloodPressure/AboutHighBloodPressure/Understanding-Blood-Pressure-Readings_UCM_301764_Article.jsp, (accessed March 2015).
Ashford, B., Biddle, S. & Goudas, M. (1993). Participation in community sports centres: motives and predictors of enjoyment. Journal of Sports Science, 11, 249-256. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640419308729992
Austin, J. T., & Vancouver, J. B. (1996). Goal constructs in psychology: Structure, process, and content. Psychological Bulletin, 120, 338–375. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.120.3.338
Bates, H. (2006). Daily Physical Activity for Children and Youth A Review and Synthesis of the Literature, Alberta Education, Learning and Teaching Resources Branch. Available at: http://education.alberta.ca/media/318711/dpa4youth.pdf (accessed June 2015).
Beattie, S., Hardy, L., & Woodman, T. (2015). A longitudinal examination of the interactive effects of goal importance and self-efficacy upon multiple life goal progress. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 47, 201-206. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039022
Bovet P., Auguste, R. & Burdette, H. (2007). Strong inverse association between physical fitness and overweight in adolescents: a large school-based survey, International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 4, 24. https://doi.org/10.1186/1479-5868-4-24
Boyce, R.W., Jones, G.R., Schendt, K.E., Lloyd, C.L. & Boone, E.L. (2009). Longitudinal changes in strength of police officers with gender comparisons. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 23, 2411-2418. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181bac2ab
Boyce, W. R., Ciulla, S., Jones, R. G., Boon, E., L, Elliott, M. L., & Combs, S. C. (2008). Physical Fitness Comparison of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Fire and Police Departments. International Journal of J Exercise Science 1, 125-135.
Bullock, T. (2007). Police officer injury study. VML Insurance programs, Law Enforcement Newsletter, 1, 2.
Caspersen, C.J., Powell, K.E. & Christensen, G.M. (1985). Physical activity, exercise and physical fitness: definitions and distinctions for health-related research. Public Health Reports, 100, 126-131.
Center for Disease Control. (2007). US Physical Activity Statistics. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Available at: http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/PASurveillance/DemoComparev.asp (accessed May 2015).
Cooper Institute for Aerobic Research (2000). Common Questions Regarding Physical Fitness Tests, Standards, and Programs for Law Enforcement Dallas, TX. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Defence Forces Ireland n.d. Defence Forces Fitness Test. Available at: http://www.military.ie/careers/fitness-testing-centre/defence-forces-fitness-tests/ (accessed August, 2015).
Friel, S., Nic Gabhainn, S. and Kelleher, C. (1999). The National Health and Lifestyles Surveys. Survey of Lifestyle, Attitudes and Nutrition (SLÁN) and the Irish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) Survey 1998, Department of Health and Children. Dublin: The Stationery Office.
Garda Representative Association: Available at: Listed Salary Scales Available at: http://www.gra.cc/pensions.shtml (accessed May 2015).
Get Ireland Active Guidelines. (2013) Physical Activity Guidelines. Available at http://www.getirelandactive.ie/get-the-guidlines/how-much-physical-activity-should-i-be-doing/ (accessed June, 2015).
Gettman, L. R. (1998). Occupational related fitness and exercise adherence. In R.K. Dishman (Ed.), Exercise Adherence: Its impact on public health (pp. 352).
Guffey, E. J., Larson, G. J. & Lasley, J. (2015). Police officer fitness, diet, lifestyle and its relationship to duty performance and injury, Journal of Legal Issues and Cases in Business, Available at http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/131469.pdf (accessed September 2015).
Johnson, B. (2001). Toward a new classification of nonexperimental quantitative research. Educational Researcher, 3, 3–14. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X030002003
Kelleher, C., Nic Gabhainn, S., Friel, S., Corrigan, H., Nolan, G., Sixsmith, J., Walsh, O. & Cooke, M. (2003). The National Health and Lifestyle Surveys: Survey of Lifestyle, Attitudes and Nutrition (SLÁN) and the Irish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) Survey 2002, Department of Health and Children. Dublin: Government Publications. Available at: www.dohc.ie/publications/national_health_and_lifestyle_surveys_2003.html (accessed June 2015).
Koley, S. (2006). Association of Cardio respiratory Fitness, Body Composition and Blood Pressure in Collegiate Population of Amritsar. The Internet Journal of Biological Anthropology. 1 1.
Lee, J.C. (2003). Police fitness: The effects of activities, service, limitations, and programs on fitness and retirement. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Southern.
Luke, A., Philpott, J., Brett, K., Cruz, L., Lun, V., Prasad, N., Zetaruk, M. (2004). Physical inactivity in children and adolescents: CASM AdHoc Committee on Children's Fitness. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, 14, 261-6. https://doi.org/10.1097/00042752-200409000-00003
Martínez-Vizcaíno, V. & Sánchez-López, M (2008). Relationship Between Physical Activity and Physical Fitness in Children and Adolescents, Revesta Espanola Cardiologia, 61, 108-11. https://doi.org/10.1157/13116196
McGill, S.M., Frost, D., Lam, T., Findlay, T., Darby, K. & Andersen, J. (2013). Fitness and movement quality of emergency task force police officers: A database with comparison to populations of emergency services personnel, athletes and the general public. International Journal Industrial Ergonomics, 43, 146–153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ergon.2012.11.013
Murtagh, E., Murphy, M., Murphy, N., Woods, C., & Lane, A. (2014). Stay Active: the physical activity, ageing and health study. Dublin: CARDI and Mary Immaculate College.
New Zealand Police (n.d.): Police Entry Requirements and Assessments Available at: https://www.newcops.co.nz/application-process/requirements (accessed March 2015).
Quigley, A. (2008). Fit for Duty? The Need for Physical Fitness Programs for Law Enforcement Officers Adrienne Quigley, Arlington County, Virginia, Police Department; and IACP Available at: at http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display&article_id=1516&issue_id=62008 (accessed March 2015).
Ryan, R.M., Frederick, C.M., Lepes, D., Rubio, N. & Sheldon, K. (1997). Intrinsic motivation and exercise adherence. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 28, 335-354.
Sallis, J.F., Haskell, W.L., Fortmann, S.P., Vranizan, C.B. & Solomon, D.S. (1986). Predictors of adoption and maintenance of physical activity in a community sample. Preventive Medicine, 15, 331-346. https://doi.org/10.1016/0091-7435(86)90001-0
Sheets, S. (2012). Fitness and the Police Officer. Journal of Law enforcement, 3.
Stevens, J. (1996). Applied multivariate statistics for the social sciences (3rd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.
Violanti, J. (2007). Dying from the Job: The Mortality Risk for Police Officers. Available at: www.cophealth.com/articles/articles_dying_b.html (accessed June, 2013).
Downloads
Statistics
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2017 Journal of Human Sport and Exercise
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Each author warrants that his or her submission to the Work is original and that he or she has full power to enter into this agreement. Neither this Work nor a similar work has been published elsewhere in any language nor shall be submitted for publication elsewhere while under consideration by JHSE. Each author also accepts that the JHSE will not be held legally responsible for any claims of compensation.
Authors wishing to include figures or text passages that have already been published elsewhere are required to obtain permission from the copyright holder(s) and to include evidence that such permission has been granted when submitting their papers. Any material received without such evidence will be assumed to originate from the authors.
Please include at the end of the acknowledgements a declaration that the experiments comply with the current laws of the country in which they were performed. The editors reserve the right to reject manuscripts that do not comply with the abovementioned requirements. The author(s) will be held responsible for false statements or failure to fulfill the above-mentioned requirements.
This title is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
You are free to share, copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format. The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms under the following terms:
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.
No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation.
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
Transfer of Copyright
In consideration of JHSE’s publication of the Work, the authors hereby transfer, assign, and otherwise convey all copyright ownership worldwide, in all languages, and in all forms of media now or hereafter known, including electronic media such as CD-ROM, Internet, and Intranet, to JHSE. If JHSE should decide for any reason not to publish an author’s submission to the Work, JHSE shall give prompt notice of its decision to the corresponding author, this agreement shall terminate, and neither the author nor JHSE shall be under any further liability or obligation.
Each author certifies that he or she has no commercial associations (e.g., consultancies, stock ownership, equity interest, patent/licensing arrangements, etc.) that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article, except as disclosed on a separate attachment. All funding sources supporting the Work and all institutional or corporate affiliations of the authors are acknowledged in a footnote in the Work.
Each author certifies that his or her institution has approved the protocol for any investigation involving humans or animals and that all experimentation was conducted in conformity with ethical and humane principles of research.
Competing Interests
Biomedical journals typically require authors and reviewers to declare if they have any competing interests with regard to their research.
JHSE require authors to agree to Copyright Notice as part of the submission process.
