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Jill Atwood ReportingJob experience versus physical fitness is becoming a heated battle in Ogden. Starting in November, Ogden Police officers will be required to pass a physical fitness test. And if they fail, they'll lose their badge.
Some Ogden police officers really feel like they are not being treated fairly on this issue. They agree that officers should have a physical fitness standard, yet they also feel like veteran officers who may not be able to pass just one small part, say due to an on the job injury, should not be fired for failing a bench press test.
Detective Jim Gent has been with the force for eight years and handles everything from homicides to assaults. He broke his elbow as a rookie while chasing down a suspect. It hasn't been the same since, but it has not kept him from doing excellent police work. Still he may not pass one requirement of the test--bench pressing 75 percent of his body weight.
Jim Gent, Detective, Major Crimes Bureau: “Any officer that goes out there today to go to work who chases someone and gets injured runs the risk of being in my shoes, and that's not a good place to be."
Matthew Godfrey, Odgen Mayor: “You either do it or you don’t. You can’t go halfway in between. The whole philosophy is you develop a minimum standard, and these are not tough things. These are not things that you have to be a super athlete to achieve."
Mayor Matthew Godfrey says the standards have been researched and are more than fair. He says everything will be done to ensure officers pass, keep in mind they do have three tries. If not they will be offered a job somewhere else in the city, possibly community policing, but they will lose their gun and their badge.
Ogden is just the first of many cities in the state considering this for its officers.
