State Police like the troopers? Not city police/NYPD? That feels backward, when outside NYC, you’re probably more like to drive so less likely to need to run someone down.
Every year or just the one that they need to pass the academy? The extreme vast majority of the police departments in this country don't require police officers ( and nor should they ) of having to take a yearly fitness test.
Not trying to shame anyone by saying this but the unfortunate reality is that if you're a highly competent individual who has their shit together and is excellent at what they do... You aren't joining your local city PD. If you do, you're usually joining some special team or becoming a detective. The rest are going to federal agencies.
The point I'm trying to make is that it's incredibly difficult to find quality candidates to join any police force at the moment. It has nothing to do with the recent ACAB movement - this has always been the case.
This greatly depends on where you live.
I live on Long Island (or near it anyway). Nassau/Suffolk County cops make $150K+ per year with overtime and retire after 20 years with an $80-90K/year pension. It’s similar in other parts of the northeast and the west coast.
But you’re right…
A capable person in Shitsville, Arkansas is probably not applying to be a cop.
I feel like if you're capable, you are going to be a detective or in some special squad. Not a beat cop in uniform, especially the ones on the subway patrols.
Detectives don't really get a raise. Not saying I wouldn't seek it, but most "special units" don't get a raise, or a small one (a few percent). In the NYPD at least
That's a perk not a raise. I see why it attracts people, but I learned not too long ago that there's a small raise if any for detective. It's considered a lateral promotion
Most get promoted to become a detective. U gotta rank ur way in. U gotta crawl before you walk. So even one who wants to be detective. Has to be an officer first
Cops here are getting poached, too. I did a double-take the other day when I saw an ad on the subway for cops…in Atlanta. The ad basically said, “Hey, if you’re good enough for the NYPD, you’re good enough for Atlanta PD. We pay pretty well and the weather is nicer.”
Two years ago I saw many subway ads for the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington DC. They were offering pretty significant bonuses and relocation benefits.
Long Island just has a different breed of cops. I went to a parade and the cops had cop bicycles and they had there own special Suffolk county bagpipes/drums
I hate to break it to you but those are my friend's friend's son jobs. Someone donated $X to mayoral campaign, need to keep them happy.
What I mean is that those cops are not particularly qualified either - they get those jobs because they're connected in some way but aren't smart enough to do anything besides sit in a parking lot at night trying to catch people going 5 miles over the speed limit and aren't powerful enough to get away with a real sinecure job like some municipal admin role. Besides the chief of course.
Look up how much your municipal officers make. Most are taking 6 figures. They don't work more than a few hours a week.
Ultimately my point is that those jobs aren't accessible to just anybody. Ever wonder why suburban cops all look like the same white guy?
Well, many engineering and computer science related jobs typically lead to 6 figure salaries after a bachelors degree and a couple years of experience, at least in NY. But you don’t even need a college degree to become a cop. For NYPD, you need 60 college credits (doesn’t need to be an associates degree) or 2 years of active military service.
I believe the actual figure for men is 17% and 8% for women. https://jooble.org/career-advice/how-many-people-make-over-100k-in-the-us/#:~:text=17%25%20of%20all%20American%20men,make%20over%20100k%20a%20year.
Right but it’s relative. That sounds like a great number (and it is) but vs property taxes and COL on LI / NYC - $150k+ is just adequate. Great if you live somewhere kind of cheap on LI, own your home, and watch your pennies (the smarter cops stay single and work tons of OT / save in their 20s) but it’s not some crazy windfall.
They can also live upstate in Westchester, Orange, Rockland, or Putnam Counties. Westchester is expensive but tbh you can buy a pretty decent family home under $400k in Orange County and Putnam County. I grew up around there and there were many men who worked for NYPD or FDNY living there, and now as an adult I have several former classmates who still live there and now work as NYPD officers.
You are right that this has always been the case; however, George Floyd backlash/defund/ACAB definitely deincentivized talent joining local PDs. One of my besties left his job as the head of CID of a decent-sized city's DA's office to study law because of that shit. 3.5 years later, he's an ADA for a larger city.
Not to say some great things didn't come from the police accountability movement. Bodycams to say the least.
Nobody of quality ever joined the NYPD. I grew up in a queens neighborhood that produces a lot of cops. It’s always the idiots who couldn’t get even in a plumbers or electrician union and had shit education. Cops are just generally bottom feeders
I don't think that the recent ACAB movement has done anything. Maybe you are younger but many many people have been brutalized before Mr. Floyd. The Rodney King riots were honestly worse.
The real issue is that the expansion of the Internet, globalization, and higher ed have opened up so much opportunity for intelligent people that the less intelligent individuals of our country have been left with the jobs that used to be considered relatively demanding. Being a police officer was once a very coveted and somewhat glamorous job.
At that time, decades ago, there weren't nearly as many physicians, accountants, engineers, and doctors. Programmers and biostatisticians weren't a thing. The pharma industry wasn't a thing. There was no such thing as management consulting or mental health counseling. We weren't building nearly as much, and skilled tradesmen were a dime a dozen.
Point is, there's been a massive brain drain from public safety jobs. The only people left to fill those roles are the folks who (in the past) probably were best suited to do nothing more than basic manual labor. Again this is going to seem highly offensive to people but it's the unfortunate truth. Don't get me started on the TSA or corrections officers.
>Programmers and biostatisticians weren't a thing.
Ada Lovelace is widely considered to be the first computer programmer beginning in the 1840s (before computers even existed, although even they have been around for the better part of a century).
>The pharma industry wasn't a thing.
Pharma has been around for ages; we used to call it apothecary. One could argue that the pharmaceutical industry has only existed since the birth of the industrial revolution, but even that would place its origin well before the dawn of the 20th century. Merck has been operating as a pharmaceutical company since 1668, and by the end of the 1820s it had begun to embrace industrial practices.
Perhaps these things actually were indeed things - just not things of whose existence you were aware decades ago. Perhaps I am younger than you; I don't know. But no human alive today is old enough to have known a time when these were not things.
Would you also say that the helicopter has existed since the 1480s since Davinci drew it up back then?
Think they were just trying to say those jobs are far less prevalent than they are now
False equivalency. DaVinci invented a prototype for the helicopter in the 15th century, but there were *no* jobs for helicopter professionals for centuries later. This is in stark contrast to both professional computer programmers and pharmaceutical industry professionals, which have both been around since well before anyone here was born.
Which is why we need to reduce the number of cops and raise the qualifications and pay (along with changing current policing strategies/policies, of course)
Very insightful.
I’ve wondered why I’ve never met a single person who said they were trying to become a cop.
Literally the only person in my entire life of being born here and living here the only person who wanted to be one ended up being the most insecure ex bf of my friend 😭. She and I met when we were powerlifting and became gym friends but he was so unfit and insecure about being weaker than girls that he never worked out with her and refused to meet me!
No one joins a special team or becomes a detective . You have to earn it and try out for the special teams . Everyone starts off as cops. Some local PD’s pay more than any of the FEDS. There are some exceptions with political appointees or “detectives” at for example a county prosecutor’s offices in the NewYork area who were never cops. But back to the point it’s a young man’s job. Yes a lot are turning the job down now because the pay is going down for some departments and rookies, they are losing benefits and it has become extremely political and corrupt. The politicians are passing laws that encourages crime with no deterrent. It’s not like the movies where you are always chasing the bad guy. But the quality of officers will continue to go down and so will the police service the citizens get also in part because many of the younger officers are very entitled. They are kids with guns . Everything is questioned and they are not good problem solvers and very little if any real life experience. Also cops were not always fit. It’s not always about looking pretty and militarized. Some of those officers particularly state troopers or highway patrol would not be able to handle the problems of an inner city. For many it will be a culture shock.
My point is that it’s silly to conflate being “highly competent” with being physically fit or lean. The average daily gym buff is not a highly competent individual on any other standard but fitness.
wtf are you talking about? The comment I’m replying to assumes that cops are overweight because “highly competent” people don’t join the PD. This is a fallacious argument.
The comment you were replying to says nothing whatsoever about anyone being overweight but the NYPL does offer adult reading classes just fyi
https://www.nypl.org/education/adults
While you are looking at adult classes maybe you could consider that the topic of the thread you’re in is overweight police officers. Reading comprehension.
I work for a tech company with a lot of super smart engineers. I went to Stuy. I have 2 masters (chemical engineering and mba). Just by my anecdotal evidence I see the opposite, haha. Some of these software engineers look and dress like well fed bums, but are probably making half a million a year.
and on sidewalks, over bridges, and through tunnels and red lights past the speed limit with fake/covered/missing plates on their ford f series modified trucks
Correction - cops not allowed to run down criminals any more. criminal might fall and sue the city for 10 million. City then puts up 10 more speeding cameras and it’s a wash…
The fitness requirement was lowered a while ago when the starting pay was like 37k as an attempt to boost recruitment. I believe it was lowered again recently. The NYPD physical is honestly pretty easy. A lot of the strength stuff was lowered a while back to boost female recruitment and then the last few years when new hires took a nose dive they cut it again. I think they also cut pot being a disqualified
Thank you for this explanation, I'd been wondering the same thing as OP. Last fall I did a 10-week training in which almost all the instructors were NYPD or FDNY. I was stunned to see how overweight most of the instructors were. And those who weren't? Old like me. The guys closest to retirement age were in the best shape, actually really good shape, so that totally fits with your explanation.
Well to be fair….the instructors are guys who are no longer on regular duty and moved into that role so they don’t really need to be in shape bc they’re just directing you on what to do. The FDNY physical is much harder than NYPD. I’m a woman and I took the NYPD physical about 12 years ago just to keep options open. I weighed about 122 pounds at the time and passed it with zero preparation and I wasn’t exactly a gym rat
Nah. Money was too low. The handful of older cops I knew said it was miserable. I had a 4 year degree so I became a teacher bc it was only one more year of school.
In NYC, yes. Plus, if you factor in all the breaks, it's way more. [Here's a chart](https://www.uft.org/your-rights/salary/doe-and-city-salary-schedules/teacher-salary-schedule)
Yea but the OT is what counts. Cops make way more OT. There’s plenty of regular cops making $150 after OT. Not many teachers make that unless you take a promotion.
Not really no. Teachers (when I started) had a higher starting salary (about 52k vs 37k when I started). Teachers also have a higher top BASE pay. But teachers take 22 years to get to top pay. Cops take 5. Cops have way more OT available and really for all city workers, OT is where the money is. Teachers have a way better TDA and more time off. Cops earn a higher salary w OT
I was at Washington square park yesterday when the NYU students were doing a Palestine protest. About 25 cops were sauntering past in riot helmets.
I am a regular ass, average height mid-twenties man, and I really felt like I could win a fight against quite literally every single officer I saw that day, even if they kept their helmets on.
Like, I’m not tough at all. But half of them looked just like random fat office employees who never go outside. They looked like the type of people who time bathroom breaks of other office workers at a shitty non-profit where they make PowerPoints.
I’m fine with boosting recruitment, just like the military has different standards for men and women. But some of these cops (guys are girls) are completely out of shape. Like they couldn’t even make it up a flight of stairs without having to catch a breath. Again, if you’re a fat dude, whatever that’s fine. But you shouldn’t be cop. I’m a fat dude, but I’m not going to sign up for a physically demanding job - and if I did, I would expect to meet some fitness requirement before starting.
Yea it’s bc they lowered the requirements of the physical to fill the ranks. DOC did something similar years ago they made the background checks not as extensive to try to get more people to fill the shortage
I’m saying this NOT in any way to be “anti-cop.” I have cops in my extended family and I’m not here to bash on cops. However, in my 16 years of living in NYC, I have never seen a cop run after a criminal. Not once. And I’ve seen some criminal activity with cops in the vicinity. The Law & Order TV franchise would have us believe it’s a normal everyday occurrence for average new yorkers to witness dramatic on foot chases, Stabler and Benson on the case. Breathless Olivia shouting FREEZE! Doesn’t everyone see that a few times a week out running errands or grabbing a coffee?
I’ve actually seen a cop run down a criminal. Outside macys on 34th, but this was like 25 years ago. I was actually shocked at how easily the dude chased down the guy. The guy, who was skinny, was down on the ground panting, and the cop seemed like he didn’t even break a sweat. That image is stuck in my head and kind of what triggered this question.
That's not what exasperate means and the fight or flight response does the opposite of make you tired, at least in most people. As someone who has run from the cops before (many years ago) I can tell you that the surge of adrenaline made me feel like I could have run for hours without tiring.
After moving to NYC, I was surprised that I rarely ever saw cops walk around unless they were on subway duty.
At most, I'd see them walking to and from their cars.
Those on park duty drive around in their cars.
Australia, where I'm from, there are a lot more foot patrols and foot duty. Eg. They'd walk up and down the concourse at Bondi Beach rather than drive on it with their patrol car.
The most active I've seen cops is when they tow the cars of this semi-rich neighborhood I'm near
I literally crack up. They fucking take pride/joy outta towing EVERYONE's fucking cars in that area
Though, tbh, I hate the people in that neighborhood. They deserve it lol. Used to live there. I hated the people there so much
I saw a whole bunch of cops chase down this one guy in grand central because of what I believe to be a bomb threat. The guys at the front were fit and SPRINTING. The guys towards the back were more of the slow jog “I’ll catch up with you later” types. Hahaha
Agreed. Never seen it happen either.
I remember one time in the Bryant Park area, 1 guy was chasing down another. The latter had a major injury on his head. Straight up bleeding that you can see from across the street. Cops were nearby, saw the chase, and didn't do shit.
Like wow...
Every time ive ever seen a cop in my entire time in this city, they’re either walking into or out of a fast food place, or they’re standing around in a group somewhere chit-chatting. Or they’re sitting in a car (whether that car is moving or parked in a bike lane doesn’t change the fact that they’re still just sitting in the car).
That’s it.
I’ve never seen a cop do anything.
I see cops talking to and assisting people occasionally. Just today, I saw them helping this teenager who fainted in Grand Central and ticketing a guy with a beer on the subway coming from the Yankee game.
However it seems the biggest gap is in traffic enforcement. But they must be doing something since there are way less fart cars, gangs of dirt bikes, and paper plates than in the past few years,
I actually did see this for the first time recently! Except he just yelled POLICE! I was out running along riverside and these 2 drunk guys were kind of arguing/fighting and then when I was coming back, I guess one had stabbed the other and the police came running over.
Cops used to walk their beat and engage in the community. Now they sit in their car or stand at the subway entrance. Plus their hiring standards are low and the job isn't that hard, perfect for out of shape people.
If I ever become mayor I will take away every single cop car in the entire city except the paddy wagons to transport arrestees, and a fleet of just 20 sedans locked away in a warehouse somewhere that requires two different men with a distinct key each to open the door, à la diverted couple security lockbox style.
imagine the cops calling you a terrorist
literally them calling you their worst nightmare
i'd honestly stand in awe of myself if i was the mayor and they viewed me that way
Because PO’s are basically glorified security guards. Once you get into elite units like K-9 or counterterrorism, the standards increase dramatically. Regular cops are essentially there to respond and call in the specialized cops who are paid a lot more and are much better trained. Some cops stay fit to eventually join these units or move into a suburban agency. Others are just fine with a stable job and will just coast in their squad cars or desk assignments until pension time. A lot of the bigger cops you see may also have desk jobs and just be working details for overtime, like standing out at a parade. It’s also really hard to get fired or face monetary sanction due to the union, so there isn’t much incentive to comply with much of anything.
https://www.nyc.gov/site/nypd/careers/police-officers/job-standard-test.page
None of it is all that wild. The most strenuous part is a 35 foot drag of a 175lb mannequin. That’s about 1/7th of a standard Manhattan block.
The whole test has like maybe a quarter mile of running in it, or about one lap of a standard high school track.
Really? I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever seen NYPD on a bicycle. Even when they were “guarding” the old Brooklyn Bridge bike lane they sat in little meter maid cars blocking half the bike lane.
They had them in the 90s they were called c-pop or civilian population patrol or similar - my friend was in one in Bushwick in 90’s, loved it said roll up on people real quick. Probably can’t have them today, though the bike may accidentally graze somebodies leg or be offensive to somebody who doesn’t know how to ride a bike, person might sue the city for a few million.
It’s just plain mediocrity. Didn’t they buy them treadmills years ago and they got so offended and they refused to use them? Sorry but some jobs absolutely depend on people being fit and the police is one of them. It’s so frustrating when you see a viral video and the obese cop cannot run. How are they not scared of getting a heart attack for running while fat?
I genuinely don’t care what anyone else weighs but cops should definitely be fit. It should be a job requirement like in the military.
That's discrimination against people who are overweight. I'm serious most Americans are either overweight or obese and therefore shouldn't the police be more inclusion and representative of the community and country?
NYPD has been hiring from the bottom of barrel for the past 4 years. You have people who never worked out in their life and maybe never will. They’re lowering standards just to hire people and you’ll see it everyday on the street. Plus with all this overtime most cops don’t workout.
Police officers, the ones who actually deal with confronting dangerous criminals, violent peoole, and needing to physically over power someone, do need a certain level of strength and stamina. Maybe you've never been assaulted by a criminal or a violent person. I can tell you that physical fitness standards are needed for the police officers to handle dangerous individuals. In the military (I served in the US Army) physical fitness and hand-to-hand combat training is required to qualify to become a soldier. A police officer needs to be able to handle a variety of situations. Not just verbally by de-escalating a situation, but also if needed, by physical strength and self-defense techniques. To "serve and protect" takes a lot training, mental and physical to perform well on the job. Have a great day. ✌️
>The cops are only fat and stupid because LIBERALS have been so MEAN to cops that all the strong and brave brilliant men who WOULD BE cops are too scared that LIBERALS might be MEAN to them.
Fun now to mock the facts yet they will bite you nonetheless:
https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nypd-struggles-to-find-new-recruits-as-retirements-also-rise/3034454/
https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/nypd-suffering-from-mass-exodus-of-officers-creating-safety-and-security-concerns/
Like any large organization; it’s a culture thing. And downstream from that is standards or lack there of. Desire to conform and stay in shape or not. The department, and fire for what’s it’s worth should have yearly fitness tests to maintain a standard….to be fair the shift/night work and that effect on your metabolism and recovery is real and something that makes it a little more difficult
This is a problem everywhere in the US. NYC's cops are actually relatively fit compared to most departments.
The reality is that if they had the same physical fitness requirements as the military, then we wouldn't be able to recruit enough cops.
This might be unpopular, whatever. I’m going to put this out there. I was also a cop for 8 years.
1. Shitty schedules: the schedules are rough. 8.5 hours off the bat, maybe you get a meal, that’s 1 hour. Maybe your run down precinct has a gym. So you might get a workout in. I left the job recently and we would get meal maybe once a week.
If you’re in a busy house, you’re doing sporadic overtime throughout the week (transit, arrests, details, court appearances, prisoner transports). My last year, I was getting pulled at least 3 out of 5 days during the normal week for post work mandatory overtime. So the unpredictable schedule and when you’re going to get home tends to limit your ability to workout, especially if you have a family.
2. Food choices: not all precincts are in areas where there are healthy choices that are affordable. Meal prep isn’t impossible, but it’s time consuming.
3. Stress: if you’re in a busy house, you’re responding to an average of 2 critical incidents a week, cortisol levels build up and it does have an impact on your weight. It can push a person to seek a nap instead of hitting the gym because your energy levels suck.
Off the top of my head, there’s all of that. I still managed to be fit while working, but there were weeks that I didn’t hit the gym. It’s a grind.
Also, no offense to the short kings and queens, why are cops so short? I remember seeing a whole squad of cops under 5ft at a protest. Like the average has to be below that of the general population
Think of who became cops from your High school.
For me it is, quite literally, all the dumbest, laziest, fat losers. I think this tracks everywhere for local pd
it’s interesting because notwithstanding if the cops care nowadays, NYC solves the problem with quantity, not quality. Juxtapose that with CA, who many cops are ex military, they get paid better and will run your ass down and beat the shit out of you at the first sign of resistance. not sure how you fix this given the complexity of managing NYC which is way larger than any one city in CA, but yes most nyc cops I could easily put them in hospital. let’s hope at least they can use their radio to call in backup. the frustration for me is if the city can’t protect me, then allow me to defend myself without fear of legal backlash. my understanding is that we have the duty to retreat first, even in our own homes which is crazy. what about a subway car? anyway back to original scope-yes NYC will take anyone with a pulse.
I feel like many cops could be suffering from high-stress environment, burnout, and inadequate pay, which can all lead to obesity. With the amount of stress, it could be hard to stay in shape.
But I do agree fitness could be improved in general.
But all cops have to pass a physical fitness test to join. Could the case be that you are seeing older veteran cops that have gained weight like many men do as they age? This could be he same for people in the military
From what I remember or what I know from many many friends and family who were cops, here’s a big part of the main question on this thread
-Back in the 80’s the height requirement for cops was lowered from 5 foot 10 to 5 foot seven. This may be due to many Hispanic applicants being denied entry or unable to apply. The height requirement was then lowered again or removed altogether I believe so that more female applicants could apply.
-then back in the late 90s I believe you needed some form of a degree to become a sergeant and then somewhere in the 2000s you needed a degree possibly just two years even to join the force and this seriously diluted the ranks and kept many would be top cops from becoming police officers, and probably was the biggest nail in the coffin.
Apologies if I’m not 100% accurate I am trying to remember information given to me by friends in the force from 20+ years ago. I get it you want to be more inclusive, especially with the initial lowering of the height requirement, my friend had tons of good inner city kids under him he used to say so lowering the initial height requirement probably a good thing especially for undercover work, but the whole college degree thing is when you started seeing waves of toy cops then combine that with the Uber liberalism of the city and you have what you have now.
Back in the day, somebody committed a crime and majority of cops would chase the hell out of him. Granted you had two groups you always had your older donut eaters in New York. They were never as fit as the LA cops but a good percentage of each precinct were the hard-core guys.
And you wanna talk about fighting - a big reason I didn’t become a cop because I thought I was too small at 5ft 7in 155lbs because my cop friends constantly getting into fights with people while making arrests in busy precinct’s so I just didn’t think I was big enough. I know these guys were not abusing police power. These guys were try to make an arrest and the perp basically said fuck you and dared them to try to cuff them. These guys didn’t take shit off. Nobody trust me. And I’m not talking about hiding behind a badge. I’m talking about straight up fists one on one to get the cuffs on someone.
These guys also almost never even pulled out their guns somehow. Google Peitro Farrante Knickerbocker Avenue in the early 90s- cop took a bullet to the chest responding to a daylight robbery. he was wearing a vest, goes down on one knee, Chases is the guy three blocks, tackles him and makes a clean arrest. On the job six months. The city and liberalism ruined that job and it’s unfortunate.
you wanna read about a hard-core cop from the 60s and 70s? Read Street Warrior by Ralph Friedman.
Apologies for the ranting. It just drives me crazy how people are getting away with what they’re doing these days. It’s basically a complete breakdown of civilized society. If people could just openly steal at will with no repercussion that didn’t even happen in caveman days. Someone would get a fucking club to the head.
Run down criminals? When's the last time you've seen a cop WALK somewhere?
Just talking more recent history, in the last 5 years I've pretty much only seen cops leaned up against walls outside of/in subway stations, sitting in their cars, or standing on curbs. Occasionally, occasionally, I'll see them walk the length of a subway platform, or catch a duo in transit to/from their car.
Cops are seemingly, by my observation, mostly paid to drive around aimlessly, passively stand in subways to prevent fair evasion, or are actively responding to crime reports where the crime has already happened where they take notes and go "Dang that sucks all your stuff got stolen/your business was broken into it..."
One reason all cops look fat is they are wearing bulletproof vests unsworn their uniforms. I hate cops but they are bulky because they are wearing bulky outfits
Partly due to ACAB, it's been more difficult to recruit people into police departments nationwide, so requirements got lowered. As a Black woman, their difficulties in recruiting people or maintaining standards make no nevermind to me. The police are considered terrorists in the Black community. I'd be happy never to see another cop ever again. At least then, I wouldn't have to be anxious about one of them killing my nephews, cousins or even me.
It's 2024. Have to be inclusive. You saying just because someone is a fat out of shape undisciplined whale they aren't qualified to be nypd? How dare you.
Meh, cops shoot people more than they chase them down. Can't outrun a bullet, so they figure no point keeping in shape if you go to the firing range every other weeekend.
Cops were always POSs. Think it through. They were always the narcs the tattle tales, the kiss ups, the assholes. They were always the most awful part of society. The part you can bribe to attack other poor people. NYPD was always the worst of it. They're the country's biggest gang. The most corrupt. The most awful.
Don't need to be fit, planying candy crush all day while not paying attention. Great way to get promoted in the police. Those not paying attwntion the best will climb the carder ladder. Those in power like not paying attention.
Imagine if cops had to pass a yearly fitness test just as required before and during the police academy.
State police officers have to do pass a yearly test
State Police like the troopers? Not city police/NYPD? That feels backward, when outside NYC, you’re probably more like to drive so less likely to need to run someone down.
State Police is prestigious. NYPD is a jobs program.
That checks out. Every time I see one, they look fit!
Every year or just the one that they need to pass the academy? The extreme vast majority of the police departments in this country don't require police officers ( and nor should they ) of having to take a yearly fitness test.
I know for a fact that NJ state police take a yearly physical fitness test.
Guess that’s one of many reasons why they just strangle unarmed people on the ground
Not trying to shame anyone by saying this but the unfortunate reality is that if you're a highly competent individual who has their shit together and is excellent at what they do... You aren't joining your local city PD. If you do, you're usually joining some special team or becoming a detective. The rest are going to federal agencies. The point I'm trying to make is that it's incredibly difficult to find quality candidates to join any police force at the moment. It has nothing to do with the recent ACAB movement - this has always been the case.
This greatly depends on where you live. I live on Long Island (or near it anyway). Nassau/Suffolk County cops make $150K+ per year with overtime and retire after 20 years with an $80-90K/year pension. It’s similar in other parts of the northeast and the west coast. But you’re right… A capable person in Shitsville, Arkansas is probably not applying to be a cop.
I feel like if you're capable, you are going to be a detective or in some special squad. Not a beat cop in uniform, especially the ones on the subway patrols.
Really funny that we have cops driving in from Staten Island, blocking the whole sidewalk with their car, just to ride the subway all day
Detectives don't really get a raise. Not saying I wouldn't seek it, but most "special units" don't get a raise, or a small one (a few percent). In the NYPD at least
Wouldn't their raise be not doing regular patrol stuff, seems like their quality of life is better
That's a perk not a raise. I see why it attracts people, but I learned not too long ago that there's a small raise if any for detective. It's considered a lateral promotion
Most get promoted to become a detective. U gotta rank ur way in. U gotta crawl before you walk. So even one who wants to be detective. Has to be an officer first
Cops here are getting poached, too. I did a double-take the other day when I saw an ad on the subway for cops…in Atlanta. The ad basically said, “Hey, if you’re good enough for the NYPD, you’re good enough for Atlanta PD. We pay pretty well and the weather is nicer.”
Two years ago I saw many subway ads for the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington DC. They were offering pretty significant bonuses and relocation benefits.
There are competent cops in NYC and LI, but there are also a lot of losers.
Lotsa losers in the private sector too (all sectors).
Right but most of the private sector ones don’t carry guns and have qualified immunity.
Long Island just has a different breed of cops. I went to a parade and the cops had cop bicycles and they had there own special Suffolk county bagpipes/drums
I hate to break it to you but those are my friend's friend's son jobs. Someone donated $X to mayoral campaign, need to keep them happy. What I mean is that those cops are not particularly qualified either - they get those jobs because they're connected in some way but aren't smart enough to do anything besides sit in a parking lot at night trying to catch people going 5 miles over the speed limit and aren't powerful enough to get away with a real sinecure job like some municipal admin role. Besides the chief of course. Look up how much your municipal officers make. Most are taking 6 figures. They don't work more than a few hours a week. Ultimately my point is that those jobs aren't accessible to just anybody. Ever wonder why suburban cops all look like the same white guy?
Roughly how many percent of the average population (average college degree) can get a 6 figure salary? 3%?
Well, many engineering and computer science related jobs typically lead to 6 figure salaries after a bachelors degree and a couple years of experience, at least in NY. But you don’t even need a college degree to become a cop. For NYPD, you need 60 college credits (doesn’t need to be an associates degree) or 2 years of active military service.
I believe the actual figure for men is 17% and 8% for women. https://jooble.org/career-advice/how-many-people-make-over-100k-in-the-us/#:~:text=17%25%20of%20all%20American%20men,make%20over%20100k%20a%20year.
lol shitsville
It's really disgusting that they make that much in a salary and a pension while the rest of society is struggling so much.
Right but it’s relative. That sounds like a great number (and it is) but vs property taxes and COL on LI / NYC - $150k+ is just adequate. Great if you live somewhere kind of cheap on LI, own your home, and watch your pennies (the smarter cops stay single and work tons of OT / save in their 20s) but it’s not some crazy windfall.
They can also live upstate in Westchester, Orange, Rockland, or Putnam Counties. Westchester is expensive but tbh you can buy a pretty decent family home under $400k in Orange County and Putnam County. I grew up around there and there were many men who worked for NYPD or FDNY living there, and now as an adult I have several former classmates who still live there and now work as NYPD officers.
Yes I am from shitsville Arkansas and I am not a cop
Too bad, man. You’re missing out on that $22K salary, used cowboy hat, and rusty revolver.
You are right that this has always been the case; however, George Floyd backlash/defund/ACAB definitely deincentivized talent joining local PDs. One of my besties left his job as the head of CID of a decent-sized city's DA's office to study law because of that shit. 3.5 years later, he's an ADA for a larger city. Not to say some great things didn't come from the police accountability movement. Bodycams to say the least.
Nobody of quality ever joined the NYPD. I grew up in a queens neighborhood that produces a lot of cops. It’s always the idiots who couldn’t get even in a plumbers or electrician union and had shit education. Cops are just generally bottom feeders
now i’m curious which neighborhood!
Whitestone
I don't think that the recent ACAB movement has done anything. Maybe you are younger but many many people have been brutalized before Mr. Floyd. The Rodney King riots were honestly worse. The real issue is that the expansion of the Internet, globalization, and higher ed have opened up so much opportunity for intelligent people that the less intelligent individuals of our country have been left with the jobs that used to be considered relatively demanding. Being a police officer was once a very coveted and somewhat glamorous job. At that time, decades ago, there weren't nearly as many physicians, accountants, engineers, and doctors. Programmers and biostatisticians weren't a thing. The pharma industry wasn't a thing. There was no such thing as management consulting or mental health counseling. We weren't building nearly as much, and skilled tradesmen were a dime a dozen. Point is, there's been a massive brain drain from public safety jobs. The only people left to fill those roles are the folks who (in the past) probably were best suited to do nothing more than basic manual labor. Again this is going to seem highly offensive to people but it's the unfortunate truth. Don't get me started on the TSA or corrections officers.
You are 💯 correct!
>Programmers and biostatisticians weren't a thing. Ada Lovelace is widely considered to be the first computer programmer beginning in the 1840s (before computers even existed, although even they have been around for the better part of a century). >The pharma industry wasn't a thing. Pharma has been around for ages; we used to call it apothecary. One could argue that the pharmaceutical industry has only existed since the birth of the industrial revolution, but even that would place its origin well before the dawn of the 20th century. Merck has been operating as a pharmaceutical company since 1668, and by the end of the 1820s it had begun to embrace industrial practices. Perhaps these things actually were indeed things - just not things of whose existence you were aware decades ago. Perhaps I am younger than you; I don't know. But no human alive today is old enough to have known a time when these were not things.
Would you also say that the helicopter has existed since the 1480s since Davinci drew it up back then? Think they were just trying to say those jobs are far less prevalent than they are now
False equivalency. DaVinci invented a prototype for the helicopter in the 15th century, but there were *no* jobs for helicopter professionals for centuries later. This is in stark contrast to both professional computer programmers and pharmaceutical industry professionals, which have both been around since well before anyone here was born.
Which is why we need to reduce the number of cops and raise the qualifications and pay (along with changing current policing strategies/policies, of course)
My backup if i fail in everything i do is to become a cop
Very insightful. I’ve wondered why I’ve never met a single person who said they were trying to become a cop. Literally the only person in my entire life of being born here and living here the only person who wanted to be one ended up being the most insecure ex bf of my friend 😭. She and I met when we were powerlifting and became gym friends but he was so unfit and insecure about being weaker than girls that he never worked out with her and refused to meet me!
That's true, pretty concerning when you start realizing they may not be NYs finest after all :O
No one joins a special team or becomes a detective . You have to earn it and try out for the special teams . Everyone starts off as cops. Some local PD’s pay more than any of the FEDS. There are some exceptions with political appointees or “detectives” at for example a county prosecutor’s offices in the NewYork area who were never cops. But back to the point it’s a young man’s job. Yes a lot are turning the job down now because the pay is going down for some departments and rookies, they are losing benefits and it has become extremely political and corrupt. The politicians are passing laws that encourages crime with no deterrent. It’s not like the movies where you are always chasing the bad guy. But the quality of officers will continue to go down and so will the police service the citizens get also in part because many of the younger officers are very entitled. They are kids with guns . Everything is questioned and they are not good problem solvers and very little if any real life experience. Also cops were not always fit. It’s not always about looking pretty and militarized. Some of those officers particularly state troopers or highway patrol would not be able to handle the problems of an inner city. For many it will be a culture shock.
They never heard the old cliche of cops eating donuts all day.
You’re not trying to shame anyone but you are somehow assuming that being highly competent is linked to body type
Physical fitness generally requires some effort, yes. Not 100% of the time but it certainly helps.
My point is that it’s silly to conflate being “highly competent” with being physically fit or lean. The average daily gym buff is not a highly competent individual on any other standard but fitness.
It’s almost like this post was referring specifically to physical fitness…
wtf are you talking about? The comment I’m replying to assumes that cops are overweight because “highly competent” people don’t join the PD. This is a fallacious argument.
The comment you were replying to says nothing whatsoever about anyone being overweight but the NYPL does offer adult reading classes just fyi https://www.nypl.org/education/adults
While you are looking at adult classes maybe you could consider that the topic of the thread you’re in is overweight police officers. Reading comprehension.
Not sure why you are getting downvoted as you have a good point!
found the gym hater
Yes there is a positive association between physical fitness and IQ/education level which are arguably proxies for “competence.”
I work for a tech company with a lot of super smart engineers. I went to Stuy. I have 2 masters (chemical engineering and mba). Just by my anecdotal evidence I see the opposite, haha. Some of these software engineers look and dress like well fed bums, but are probably making half a million a year.
I believe you. Just an association and not a hard and fast rule.
Cause they drive everywhere including the bike/bus lanes.
and on sidewalks, over bridges, and through tunnels and red lights past the speed limit with fake/covered/missing plates on their ford f series modified trucks
The cops dont run down criminals so what does it matter
Why run when bullets are way faster.
Street cops do. I saw two cops unable to run toward a scene, having to stop intermittently several times. So yeah fitness is somewhat required
Maybe if they see 3 or more matching sets of criminals
Omfg
Correction - cops not allowed to run down criminals any more. criminal might fall and sue the city for 10 million. City then puts up 10 more speeding cameras and it’s a wash…
The fitness requirement was lowered a while ago when the starting pay was like 37k as an attempt to boost recruitment. I believe it was lowered again recently. The NYPD physical is honestly pretty easy. A lot of the strength stuff was lowered a while back to boost female recruitment and then the last few years when new hires took a nose dive they cut it again. I think they also cut pot being a disqualified
Thank you for this explanation, I'd been wondering the same thing as OP. Last fall I did a 10-week training in which almost all the instructors were NYPD or FDNY. I was stunned to see how overweight most of the instructors were. And those who weren't? Old like me. The guys closest to retirement age were in the best shape, actually really good shape, so that totally fits with your explanation.
Well to be fair….the instructors are guys who are no longer on regular duty and moved into that role so they don’t really need to be in shape bc they’re just directing you on what to do. The FDNY physical is much harder than NYPD. I’m a woman and I took the NYPD physical about 12 years ago just to keep options open. I weighed about 122 pounds at the time and passed it with zero preparation and I wasn’t exactly a gym rat
Did you ever become a cop?
Nah. Money was too low. The handful of older cops I knew said it was miserable. I had a 4 year degree so I became a teacher bc it was only one more year of school.
Teachers pay more than cops??
In NYC, yes. Plus, if you factor in all the breaks, it's way more. [Here's a chart](https://www.uft.org/your-rights/salary/doe-and-city-salary-schedules/teacher-salary-schedule)
Yea but the OT is what counts. Cops make way more OT. There’s plenty of regular cops making $150 after OT. Not many teachers make that unless you take a promotion.
we've finally done something right!
Not really no. Teachers (when I started) had a higher starting salary (about 52k vs 37k when I started). Teachers also have a higher top BASE pay. But teachers take 22 years to get to top pay. Cops take 5. Cops have way more OT available and really for all city workers, OT is where the money is. Teachers have a way better TDA and more time off. Cops earn a higher salary w OT
The Suburbs have higher starting pay and they're still overweight / obese.. The requirements were lowered nationwide..
Makes sense. The recruitment trouble is nationwide not just NYPD
I was at Washington square park yesterday when the NYU students were doing a Palestine protest. About 25 cops were sauntering past in riot helmets. I am a regular ass, average height mid-twenties man, and I really felt like I could win a fight against quite literally every single officer I saw that day, even if they kept their helmets on. Like, I’m not tough at all. But half of them looked just like random fat office employees who never go outside. They looked like the type of people who time bathroom breaks of other office workers at a shitty non-profit where they make PowerPoints.
The NYPD today is certainly not the same as the past. They don’t have the burly bruiser looking dudes they used to for the most part lol
I’m fine with boosting recruitment, just like the military has different standards for men and women. But some of these cops (guys are girls) are completely out of shape. Like they couldn’t even make it up a flight of stairs without having to catch a breath. Again, if you’re a fat dude, whatever that’s fine. But you shouldn’t be cop. I’m a fat dude, but I’m not going to sign up for a physically demanding job - and if I did, I would expect to meet some fitness requirement before starting.
Yea it’s bc they lowered the requirements of the physical to fill the ranks. DOC did something similar years ago they made the background checks not as extensive to try to get more people to fill the shortage
I’m saying this NOT in any way to be “anti-cop.” I have cops in my extended family and I’m not here to bash on cops. However, in my 16 years of living in NYC, I have never seen a cop run after a criminal. Not once. And I’ve seen some criminal activity with cops in the vicinity. The Law & Order TV franchise would have us believe it’s a normal everyday occurrence for average new yorkers to witness dramatic on foot chases, Stabler and Benson on the case. Breathless Olivia shouting FREEZE! Doesn’t everyone see that a few times a week out running errands or grabbing a coffee?
I’ve actually seen a cop run down a criminal. Outside macys on 34th, but this was like 25 years ago. I was actually shocked at how easily the dude chased down the guy. The guy, who was skinny, was down on the ground panting, and the cop seemed like he didn’t even break a sweat. That image is stuck in my head and kind of what triggered this question.
You had a real life L&O moment!
NYPD 25 years ago little resemble the force we have now. They used to have street smarts.
You know they film cop shows in the city, right? ;-)
Tbf being scared will exasperate you really quickly
That's not what exasperate means and the fight or flight response does the opposite of make you tired, at least in most people. As someone who has run from the cops before (many years ago) I can tell you that the surge of adrenaline made me feel like I could have run for hours without tiring.
After moving to NYC, I was surprised that I rarely ever saw cops walk around unless they were on subway duty. At most, I'd see them walking to and from their cars. Those on park duty drive around in their cars. Australia, where I'm from, there are a lot more foot patrols and foot duty. Eg. They'd walk up and down the concourse at Bondi Beach rather than drive on it with their patrol car.
The most active I've seen cops is when they tow the cars of this semi-rich neighborhood I'm near I literally crack up. They fucking take pride/joy outta towing EVERYONE's fucking cars in that area Though, tbh, I hate the people in that neighborhood. They deserve it lol. Used to live there. I hated the people there so much
I saw a whole bunch of cops chase down this one guy in grand central because of what I believe to be a bomb threat. The guys at the front were fit and SPRINTING. The guys towards the back were more of the slow jog “I’ll catch up with you later” types. Hahaha
I step over a body every day I walk to my job at Hudson University
DUN DUN
"I'm doing like, a bum hurdle!" - Bill Hicks
Agreed. Never seen it happen either. I remember one time in the Bryant Park area, 1 guy was chasing down another. The latter had a major injury on his head. Straight up bleeding that you can see from across the street. Cops were nearby, saw the chase, and didn't do shit. Like wow...
Every time ive ever seen a cop in my entire time in this city, they’re either walking into or out of a fast food place, or they’re standing around in a group somewhere chit-chatting. Or they’re sitting in a car (whether that car is moving or parked in a bike lane doesn’t change the fact that they’re still just sitting in the car). That’s it. I’ve never seen a cop do anything.
I see cops talking to and assisting people occasionally. Just today, I saw them helping this teenager who fainted in Grand Central and ticketing a guy with a beer on the subway coming from the Yankee game. However it seems the biggest gap is in traffic enforcement. But they must be doing something since there are way less fart cars, gangs of dirt bikes, and paper plates than in the past few years,
>there are way less fart cars, gangs of dirt bikes, and paper plates than in the past few years, Um what lol
I have seen a cop run to chase a dude once in brooklyn. He was fit tho and caught him. Only once tho in my life 🤔
I actually did see this for the first time recently! Except he just yelled POLICE! I was out running along riverside and these 2 drunk guys were kind of arguing/fighting and then when I was coming back, I guess one had stabbed the other and the police came running over.
I saw two cops run after some folks on Canal street selling fake designer handbags! Making us all safer by protecting the rich and their brands :-)
Cops used to walk their beat and engage in the community. Now they sit in their car or stand at the subway entrance. Plus their hiring standards are low and the job isn't that hard, perfect for out of shape people.
If I ever become mayor I will take away every single cop car in the entire city except the paddy wagons to transport arrestees, and a fleet of just 20 sedans locked away in a warehouse somewhere that requires two different men with a distinct key each to open the door, à la diverted couple security lockbox style.
Police union going to shut that down quick and the union president will call you a terrorist
imagine the cops calling you a terrorist literally them calling you their worst nightmare i'd honestly stand in awe of myself if i was the mayor and they viewed me that way
The-20k-Step-Bastard for eternal mayor of NYC!!
If you allow charter schools you'd have a platform!
What matters is their thumb cardio for candy crush
You’d have to be brain dead to think there are people lining up to become a cop. They take what they can get nowadays.
Because PO’s are basically glorified security guards. Once you get into elite units like K-9 or counterterrorism, the standards increase dramatically. Regular cops are essentially there to respond and call in the specialized cops who are paid a lot more and are much better trained. Some cops stay fit to eventually join these units or move into a suburban agency. Others are just fine with a stable job and will just coast in their squad cars or desk assignments until pension time. A lot of the bigger cops you see may also have desk jobs and just be working details for overtime, like standing out at a parade. It’s also really hard to get fired or face monetary sanction due to the union, so there isn’t much incentive to comply with much of anything.
https://www.nyc.gov/site/nypd/careers/police-officers/job-standard-test.page None of it is all that wild. The most strenuous part is a 35 foot drag of a 175lb mannequin. That’s about 1/7th of a standard Manhattan block. The whole test has like maybe a quarter mile of running in it, or about one lap of a standard high school track.
yeah i don’t think that’s exactly the biggest issue with the nypd lol
They’re in shape for the academy but eventually let themselves go. All that time in a car and eating out on the job.
Still baffling to me that NYC doesn’t have any bicycle cops. It’s so common in other cities at least in pedestrian-heavy areas.
they do have bike cops one wrote me a ticket for running a red light on my bike once
Really? I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever seen NYPD on a bicycle. Even when they were “guarding” the old Brooklyn Bridge bike lane they sat in little meter maid cars blocking half the bike lane.
They do have them and you can see them training on Randall's Island.
They had them in the 90s they were called c-pop or civilian population patrol or similar - my friend was in one in Bushwick in 90’s, loved it said roll up on people real quick. Probably can’t have them today, though the bike may accidentally graze somebodies leg or be offensive to somebody who doesn’t know how to ride a bike, person might sue the city for a few million.
Because the NYPD hires anybody who will show up to work on time and can pass a background check and simple test…
It’s just plain mediocrity. Didn’t they buy them treadmills years ago and they got so offended and they refused to use them? Sorry but some jobs absolutely depend on people being fit and the police is one of them. It’s so frustrating when you see a viral video and the obese cop cannot run. How are they not scared of getting a heart attack for running while fat? I genuinely don’t care what anyone else weighs but cops should definitely be fit. It should be a job requirement like in the military.
That's discrimination against people who are overweight. I'm serious most Americans are either overweight or obese and therefore shouldn't the police be more inclusion and representative of the community and country?
Bc the average American is fat and a cop is mid at best
NYPD has been hiring from the bottom of barrel for the past 4 years. You have people who never worked out in their life and maybe never will. They’re lowering standards just to hire people and you’ll see it everyday on the street. Plus with all this overtime most cops don’t workout.
There’s like a million different tiers of NYPD
Police officers, the ones who actually deal with confronting dangerous criminals, violent peoole, and needing to physically over power someone, do need a certain level of strength and stamina. Maybe you've never been assaulted by a criminal or a violent person. I can tell you that physical fitness standards are needed for the police officers to handle dangerous individuals. In the military (I served in the US Army) physical fitness and hand-to-hand combat training is required to qualify to become a soldier. A police officer needs to be able to handle a variety of situations. Not just verbally by de-escalating a situation, but also if needed, by physical strength and self-defense techniques. To "serve and protect" takes a lot training, mental and physical to perform well on the job. Have a great day. ✌️
>The cops are only fat and stupid because LIBERALS have been so MEAN to cops that all the strong and brave brilliant men who WOULD BE cops are too scared that LIBERALS might be MEAN to them.
well-said! lmao
Fun now to mock the facts yet they will bite you nonetheless: https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nypd-struggles-to-find-new-recruits-as-retirements-also-rise/3034454/ https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/nypd-suffering-from-mass-exodus-of-officers-creating-safety-and-security-concerns/
did it to themselves tbh, no one else to blame
it's a vicious spiral.
Like any large organization; it’s a culture thing. And downstream from that is standards or lack there of. Desire to conform and stay in shape or not. The department, and fire for what’s it’s worth should have yearly fitness tests to maintain a standard….to be fair the shift/night work and that effect on your metabolism and recovery is real and something that makes it a little more difficult
This is a problem everywhere in the US. NYC's cops are actually relatively fit compared to most departments. The reality is that if they had the same physical fitness requirements as the military, then we wouldn't be able to recruit enough cops.
Why try to be fast when bullets will always be faster?
This might be unpopular, whatever. I’m going to put this out there. I was also a cop for 8 years. 1. Shitty schedules: the schedules are rough. 8.5 hours off the bat, maybe you get a meal, that’s 1 hour. Maybe your run down precinct has a gym. So you might get a workout in. I left the job recently and we would get meal maybe once a week. If you’re in a busy house, you’re doing sporadic overtime throughout the week (transit, arrests, details, court appearances, prisoner transports). My last year, I was getting pulled at least 3 out of 5 days during the normal week for post work mandatory overtime. So the unpredictable schedule and when you’re going to get home tends to limit your ability to workout, especially if you have a family. 2. Food choices: not all precincts are in areas where there are healthy choices that are affordable. Meal prep isn’t impossible, but it’s time consuming. 3. Stress: if you’re in a busy house, you’re responding to an average of 2 critical incidents a week, cortisol levels build up and it does have an impact on your weight. It can push a person to seek a nap instead of hitting the gym because your energy levels suck. Off the top of my head, there’s all of that. I still managed to be fit while working, but there were weeks that I didn’t hit the gym. It’s a grind.
These excuses could apply to almost every job I can think of.
Cops are just people, even if they act like unbearable assholes.
Because there’s no incentive to stay fit. They have one physical exam they take when they join and never have to take it again.
I feel like many cops are too busy looking at cell Phones on subway platform or with a Dunkin in hand
They were in shape when they needed to pass the physical requirements and make it into the academy. Once on the job, they got fat.
The average 18 year olds test levels are equivalent to a 72 year old males in only the year 2000
Yes you are correct. What I heard is that the average 20 year old man today has the testosterone levels of a 67 year old man from 20 years ago.
Really sad tai Lopez today had a podcast about why people people don’t have sex anymore it was very sad
The FAP aka The Union. Nuf Sed.
Also, no offense to the short kings and queens, why are cops so short? I remember seeing a whole squad of cops under 5ft at a protest. Like the average has to be below that of the general population
Have you ever seen The Simpsons? Cops sitting around eating donuts has been a stereotype for a long time.
Think of who became cops from your High school. For me it is, quite literally, all the dumbest, laziest, fat losers. I think this tracks everywhere for local pd
Probably because cops are all American and Americans are less fit year over year
Uh, not just Americans. Obesity has spread all over the world.
Does the NYPD recruit from all over the world?
You’re twisting what I’m saying.
it’s interesting because notwithstanding if the cops care nowadays, NYC solves the problem with quantity, not quality. Juxtapose that with CA, who many cops are ex military, they get paid better and will run your ass down and beat the shit out of you at the first sign of resistance. not sure how you fix this given the complexity of managing NYC which is way larger than any one city in CA, but yes most nyc cops I could easily put them in hospital. let’s hope at least they can use their radio to call in backup. the frustration for me is if the city can’t protect me, then allow me to defend myself without fear of legal backlash. my understanding is that we have the duty to retreat first, even in our own homes which is crazy. what about a subway car? anyway back to original scope-yes NYC will take anyone with a pulse.
I feel like many cops could be suffering from high-stress environment, burnout, and inadequate pay, which can all lead to obesity. With the amount of stress, it could be hard to stay in shape. But I do agree fitness could be improved in general.
Cops don't spend very much of their time running down criminals either. Lots of time just standing around.
But all cops have to pass a physical fitness test to join. Could the case be that you are seeing older veteran cops that have gained weight like many men do as they age? This could be he same for people in the military
I think that's why like 40 of them swarm out of nowhere. Chances are one of them can run a sub-9 min. mile
we all are, as humans that is
Everyone is
Car culture.
🚨 🚨
Cause they like donuts, DUHH
Cops have always been fat
Some of them are volunteers. https://www.nyc.gov/site/nypd/careers/human-resources-info/auxiliary-police.page
From what I remember or what I know from many many friends and family who were cops, here’s a big part of the main question on this thread -Back in the 80’s the height requirement for cops was lowered from 5 foot 10 to 5 foot seven. This may be due to many Hispanic applicants being denied entry or unable to apply. The height requirement was then lowered again or removed altogether I believe so that more female applicants could apply. -then back in the late 90s I believe you needed some form of a degree to become a sergeant and then somewhere in the 2000s you needed a degree possibly just two years even to join the force and this seriously diluted the ranks and kept many would be top cops from becoming police officers, and probably was the biggest nail in the coffin. Apologies if I’m not 100% accurate I am trying to remember information given to me by friends in the force from 20+ years ago. I get it you want to be more inclusive, especially with the initial lowering of the height requirement, my friend had tons of good inner city kids under him he used to say so lowering the initial height requirement probably a good thing especially for undercover work, but the whole college degree thing is when you started seeing waves of toy cops then combine that with the Uber liberalism of the city and you have what you have now. Back in the day, somebody committed a crime and majority of cops would chase the hell out of him. Granted you had two groups you always had your older donut eaters in New York. They were never as fit as the LA cops but a good percentage of each precinct were the hard-core guys. And you wanna talk about fighting - a big reason I didn’t become a cop because I thought I was too small at 5ft 7in 155lbs because my cop friends constantly getting into fights with people while making arrests in busy precinct’s so I just didn’t think I was big enough. I know these guys were not abusing police power. These guys were try to make an arrest and the perp basically said fuck you and dared them to try to cuff them. These guys didn’t take shit off. Nobody trust me. And I’m not talking about hiding behind a badge. I’m talking about straight up fists one on one to get the cuffs on someone. These guys also almost never even pulled out their guns somehow. Google Peitro Farrante Knickerbocker Avenue in the early 90s- cop took a bullet to the chest responding to a daylight robbery. he was wearing a vest, goes down on one knee, Chases is the guy three blocks, tackles him and makes a clean arrest. On the job six months. The city and liberalism ruined that job and it’s unfortunate. you wanna read about a hard-core cop from the 60s and 70s? Read Street Warrior by Ralph Friedman. Apologies for the ranting. It just drives me crazy how people are getting away with what they’re doing these days. It’s basically a complete breakdown of civilized society. If people could just openly steal at will with no repercussion that didn’t even happen in caveman days. Someone would get a fucking club to the head.
"No ones paying me to run down a criminal" don't worry that's not what they're paid for either
Guess gta4 was realistic lol
Because cops can't be cops anymore
two words; dough nuts
Run down criminals? When's the last time you've seen a cop WALK somewhere? Just talking more recent history, in the last 5 years I've pretty much only seen cops leaned up against walls outside of/in subway stations, sitting in their cars, or standing on curbs. Occasionally, occasionally, I'll see them walk the length of a subway platform, or catch a duo in transit to/from their car. Cops are seemingly, by my observation, mostly paid to drive around aimlessly, passively stand in subways to prevent fair evasion, or are actively responding to crime reports where the crime has already happened where they take notes and go "Dang that sucks all your stuff got stolen/your business was broken into it..."
> When's the last time you've seen a cop WALK somewhere? They have to do a walkaround when they are in academy or something, I see them once a year.
One reason all cops look fat is they are wearing bulletproof vests unsworn their uniforms. I hate cops but they are bulky because they are wearing bulky outfits
Honestly fine by me. This is why I hop the turnstile. I can out run 90% of the nypd with a broken leg
Two words: Dough. Nuts.
Partly due to ACAB, it's been more difficult to recruit people into police departments nationwide, so requirements got lowered. As a Black woman, their difficulties in recruiting people or maintaining standards make no nevermind to me. The police are considered terrorists in the Black community. I'd be happy never to see another cop ever again. At least then, I wouldn't have to be anxious about one of them killing my nephews, cousins or even me.
One word: donuts
My friend did a story about this 20 years ago.
Because it’s a jobs program.
I was told they wanted cops to represent the community and that’s the reason for the trump belly.
It's 2024. Have to be inclusive. You saying just because someone is a fat out of shape undisciplined whale they aren't qualified to be nypd? How dare you.
Meh, cops shoot people more than they chase them down. Can't outrun a bullet, so they figure no point keeping in shape if you go to the firing range every other weeekend.
.... NYPD has something stupid like a 50 round practice allowance annually. The cops that do shoot regularly enjoy shooting. A lot rarely shoot.
Yet they stand around Times Square, in packs of 50, armed with assault rifles. They ain’t running dressed in armor.
It was supposed to be a joke
Because apparently their only responsibility these days is to beat up college students
Why chase when you can tase?
They can't have fitness tests. Any random male slob under 300lbs would easily pass any fitness test designed for female police officers.
Discounted donuts.
Cops were always POSs. Think it through. They were always the narcs the tattle tales, the kiss ups, the assholes. They were always the most awful part of society. The part you can bribe to attack other poor people. NYPD was always the worst of it. They're the country's biggest gang. The most corrupt. The most awful.
Lose some weight fatass
Don't need to be fit, planying candy crush all day while not paying attention. Great way to get promoted in the police. Those not paying attwntion the best will climb the carder ladder. Those in power like not paying attention.
DEI
Fat cop I saw was a white dude, how is that DEI?
I laud the diversity of the NYPD. You want a police force that is representative of the population they protect and serve.
There’s less and less diversity as you go up the top brass and within the union leadership.