| Officers in Tayside woke up to the news this morning that the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland aims to tackle concerns over the flagging fitness of serving officers by introducing a series of checks such as running, step-ups and cycling.
At present, only probationary officers are subjected to training regimes in the first two years of service, and fears are now rising that some serving officers have let themselves go.
This is a scenario chief constables across Scotland are keen to change.
A spokesman for Tayside Police confirmed there is no enforced training schedule in place for serving officers, with the onus on officers to maintain their fitness levels.
He said, “Probationary officers undergo a series of training schedules, which they continue during a 15-week course at the Scottish Police College.
“Their training continues throughout their two-year probationary period and concludes with a final test.
“There is no formal fitness test for serving officers after the probation period. All officers are advised to monitor and maintain their fitness levels.”
The spokesman said activity-based fitness tests are based on the “day-to-day situations” with which officers would be expected to contend.
“Training would include street furniture, with typical obstacles such as lamp-posts and cars, that we would expect to encounter should an officer have to chase somebody,” he explained.
Andrew Cameron, Chief Constable of Central Scotland, who is leading the new training regime for Acpos, said, “Police officers have to carry an awful lot of extras — CS spray, batons, handcuffs and heavy body armour.
“Officers are supposed to maintain a certain level of fitness through their first two years, but the reality is after that there is nothing that requires officers to go through regular testing.
“We want to move towards this, but we appreciate we will have to consult with the Police Federation and other staff associations.
“We want to ensure the workforce is equipped physically and psychologically to deal with what is a highly-demanding job.
“There is no evidence people who are overweight cannot do their job properly, but the job of policing is increasingly difficult and we to have as healthy and fit a workforce as possible.”
The tests are not expected to be confined to front-line officers and will form part of a widespread fitness shake-up as even tougher new fitness standards are created for new recruits.
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