photo: courtesy Reuters

Two studies came out this year (2014), one by the FBI and the other by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (AJPM). Both indicated that those in law enforcement are among the fattest professions in the United States. In the FBI study, 8 out of 10 police officers are overweight. In the AJPM study, over 40% of law enforcement officers (along with fire fighters and security guards) are obese. Both are way above the general population.

Many in the public tend to judge the way law enforcement officers are supposed to look by what they see in Hollywood movies and TV shows. Like any other arena, this is not reality. Actors are among the most fit professionals. Still, it’s crazy to see obese police officers on the job and it’s not healthy physically nor mentally.

As a former LAPD officer (over 3 decades ago) and mindset/fitness expert, this is disheartening to me. Furthermore, it’s determined that the average life span of a career police officer is 60 years old. They are not dying by bad guys. Instead, most are killed by cardiovascular disease.

I realize that many officers will say they are overweight according the the BMI, and that may be true. Sure, there are officers who are in great shape and muscular. I was also very muscular in my LAPD days. Today, what I’ve personally witnessed are a great many officers with large bellies. That is not muscle, but fat.

Most departments today do not have any regulation for staying fit beyond the academy. And you can’t fire an officer for being obese. I remember talking to a Los Angeles County deputy sheriff and he told me that a deputy can weigh 1,000 pounds and not be fired as long as he can make it work. During a seminar I gave in Atlanta, GA back in 2011, I saw one officer, who must have weighed well over 400 pounds, barely walking. That is crazy!

It is my opinion that departments and unions should recommend (at the very least) and even institute a program of fitness for every law enforcement officer under their jurisdiction. This includes all the factors of true fitness: exercise, nutrition, sleep and mindset. The mindset portion should include ways of reducing emotional stress. The fitness portion should include factors for health and tactical fitness.

The men and women who serve their communities should be supported in ensuring they get and remain fit/healthy throughout their career.

The benefits when LE officers are fit are tremendous. And fit officer has much better cognition versus an obese officer and that leads to better functioning. Instead of reacting they will instead, respond effectively. This is in both mind and body. Obesity affects the brain as much as it affects the body. In turn, it becomes a vicious cycle for officers.

For the very obese officers let me suggest that they begin with simply moving more. Get out of your police unit every once in awhile and take 5-10 to walk. When off-duty, walk up to a mile per day. As you get fitter, increase it as well as the intensity. Make sure you check with your physician as well.

For those officers that are simply fat overweight, begin with high intensity walking and transition into other forms of exercising, like circuit training and high intensity interval training (HIIT). For all officers, eat foods closer to Mother Nature. If you have brown bag it, do it. Dump the donuts and junk food. Yes, even in my day we would stop at the local donut shop (usually Winchell’s). If I were on the job today, I would definitely follow my advice I’m giving you.

For those officers that are already fit, let me suggest that you engage in more tactical fitness training. This will include the circuit training and HIIT above. In addition, you’d be doing more sprints (with equipment), jumping, climbing and even carrying/dragging a heavy bag (to emulate a downed officer/victim). Think of how professional athletes train in their respective fields, so should you in the LE field.

My vision is that all LE officers will be among the most highly fit professions in the world. Today, as stated earlier, it’s just the opposite.

Cheers,

Bob Choat, “Transformational Master Black Belt”
America’s #1 Mind-Body Transformation Expert and author of Mind Your Own Fitness