How To Train For Police Officer Physical Test And Requirements Full Guide

Becoming a police officer is a daydream of many, but great positions require you to go through tough eligibility tests to determine whether you are physically fit for the job or not. Along with other assessment tests for police officers, police physical test is another test that is part of the police admission test.

The physical requirements to become a police officer vary from agency to agency, every agency conducts different police fitness test depending on their job responsibility, this article will be based on police officer physical requirements and It will guide you on every single detail of the components of Police officers physical test.

Passing the police fitness test is mandatory to become a part of a police department, so, you must get yourself prepared before applying for any of the position for a police officer, the best way to get yourself prepared is to first know about its components so that you can practice them.

Many of the prospected candidates for the police department have this question in their minds, is the police physical test hard? Well, it is hard for those who go unprepared while it is straightforward for the candidates who have prepared themselves, so, make sure to be the second candidate who appears in the test with full preparation.

Approaches To Police Physical Physical Ability Test

You must have heard PAT TEST Police and wondered what does it mean, the Police Police PAT stands for “ Police Physical Ability test” so next time you hear this word do not get confused about it. Different police departments have different approaches to test a candidate’s physical abilities.

Generally speaking, two types of approaches are adopted in police departments for physical assessment of the candidates

• Job stimulation method
• Fitness-based method

We will discuss them both in details. However, you must keep one thing in your mind. There is no grey area for the police physical fitness test which means that either you will pass the test or fail it.

Make sure to go through all the components of the test in the upcoming articles of the article so that you can master them before appearing in the test else if you fail one component. You might not be allowed to participate in the test anymore.

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Job Stimulation Method

The Job stimulation method is based on the components that will include the real-time situations that a police officer will have to face during his daily routine. This means that when you appear in the test of a police department that conducts the Physical a fitness test using the Job stimulation approach, you will be given some real-time situations you will be asked to perform your duties, for example, you might be asked to drag a body and move it to a safe cover, or you might be given a rope and asked to climb to a window using the rope.

Such a fitness approach aims to test whether the candidate has the capability and capacity to cope up with situations that he/she will be facing throughout his career. If you perform well in the tasks assigned to you, the invigilator will give you a good score, and you will pass through the physical requirements for police.

Fitness-Based Method

Do you have this type of questions in your mind, how many push-ups do you have to do in the police academy? If so, the answer to your question is in the fitness-based approach. Many of the police departments take into account the overall physical strengths of the candidates rather than the actual real-time tests. They argue that the overall fitness of the candidates gives them a better idea about their ability to do the assigned tasks.

In a fitness-based approach, you will be asked to perform several push-ups in a given time, or you might be asked to complete one mile within 5 minutes, no matter what task you are assigned with, the goal is to test your overall fitness. Many agencies will test you on the criteria of the Copper fitness test, which includes gender and age based chart for repetition of each exercise within a given time.

So, check with the agency in which you are applying, and if they follow the fitness-based approach, make sure to join the gym nearby you so that you can develop physical strength in yourself.

What Does The Police Physical Agility Test Consist Of & Requirements?

The most common question asked many aspiring students to become a police officer is, what are the physical fitness requirements for a police officer, well, the requirements may vary depending on the approach that the agency has adopted. Therefore we will examine the components of both the sections differently.

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Police Physical Test Components Based On Job Stimulation Method

The components of such type of police physical exam include obstacles that a candidate has to pass within a specific time. All these obstacles are related to the job that you will be performing in case you are hired as a police officer.

The components may vary from agency to agency, but overall this pattern is followed.

Getting out of Patrol car –The first obstacle that you will be asked to do is to get out of a patrolling car while your seatbelt is on. This obstacle tests your ability to respond to an emergency that arose when you were patrolling.

Run a specific Distance –Once you are out of your car, you will be asked to run several miles to test your speed and ability to run. This will be helpful for you while you are running towards an incident that occurred a little far away from you.

Climb over a wall –After running, you will be asked to climb a wall. The police department will check whether you have the physical strength required to climb a wall or not.

Drag weight –In this obstacle, you will be asked to drag a dummy weight that weighs around 150 pounds.

Belly crawl –For passing this obstacle, you will be asked to Crawl on your belly so that the invigilator can test your abilities. While on duty, you might come across certain situations in which you will have to crawl on your belly.

Climb through a window –In this type of Obstacle, you will be given a rope to climb through a window. This skill is helpful when you are raiding a building, and its doors are locked, the only option you will be left with is to climb through the window.

Police academy physical requirements have been discussed in the above section, if you noted, all of them are a simple exercise that can be practiced at home, therefore, to perform well in the police officer physical test you should practice them constantly at your home. For example, you can devote half an hour every day for these practices so that you build your physical strength and master all these key physical requirements for police officers test.

Police Physical Test Components Based On Fitness Based Method

Every department has its customized fitness-based approach for testing the candidates, and therefore they include their customized exercises that you need to perform in police officer physical fitness test. However, the most common ones are enlisted below.

• Push-ups
• Sit-ups
• Bench-press
• Additional strength assessment – trigger pull, arm ergo-meter.
• 75-yard dash
• 1.5-mile run

If the agency in which you are applying follows the fitness base approach, you need to master on all these components because, during a test with such an agency, you will have to perform all these within due time.

Usually, the agencies follow a chart that includes several repetitions that vary depending on your age and gender. To successfully pass the physical ability test for police officers, you will have to perform all these exercises within due time.

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Washington Police –Physical Ability Fitness Test Requirements

You might be wondering what the physical requirements of a police officer are, well, In this section, we will be discussing the police officer fitness requirements for Washington Police department. These Police department requirements will give you an idea about the rest of agencies too so, make sure to read them carefully so that you can chalk a rough idea in your mind about the physical requirements for police of different states.

·         Passing score for every obstacle is 30 points, and to meet the police fitness requirements, you need to pass every Obstacle successfully.

·         A minimum of 160 total points is required to pass the PAT.

·         A maximum of 200 points is possible.

The four key obstacles for the Washington police academy physical test are given in the table below: 

Who Develops The Physical Ability For Police officers?

As we already discussed that each agency has its own police physical ability test which is designed to check the physical strength of a candidate. The Physical ability test or PAT is designed by consultant companies hired by the respective law enforcement agency.

For example, the California Police department might be hiring a consultant who is different from that of New York Police department, as the consultant companies are different therefore the police officer physical fitness test requirements are also different.

The police departments, however, ensure that standard is maintained throughout these tests; for this purpose, they ask the consultant companies to provide a manual which contains all the components included in the test.

Being an aspiring candidate for the police department, what you can do is to check for the consultant company that is developing the Physical ability test for your police department, once you have that information, you can check their previous tests to get an idea of what their tests look like.

After getting basic information about their tests, you should start preparing yourself so that you can succeed in Physical ability test. Still, you might be wondering, how do I prepare for it? Let’s discuss that!

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How Do I Prepare For The Police Officer Physical Exam?

Physical requirements to be a cop can vary from agency to agency. Still, no matter which agency you are applying for, you need to demonstrate the best of physical abilities to get selected by the agency and the best physical abilities with preparation and training for it.

Many of the police departments have designed training manual, video, and audio lectures, and live seminars to train the students for their Physical ability test. The first thing that you need to do is to shortlist the agency or several agencies in which you will be seeking employment. Once you are done with your selection, you need to visit their website and check which type of police agility test do they conduct.

If the agency is conducting the Obstacle based test or Job stimulation method, you need to check for the obstacles that you will be asked to perform. After getting the information about the obstacles, start training yourself for them and if possible, try to do a mock test so that you can have an idea about your physical strength. You can also visit their website and check if they have provided any material for training on their website.

The second type of police physical agility test is a fitness-based approach. If your aspired police department is going for a fitness-based approach, you need to hit the gym today so that you can develop overall strength. Make sure to check their fitness requirements, for example, how many push-ups do they require and so on. This will give you an idea about their requirements, and it will help practice it at home.

No matter what approach the department follows, you will be required to demonstrate that you have the physical strength as well as stamina. Physical strength can be achieved by practicing the obstacles or joining the gym but to meet the requirement of Stamina. You need to run daily.

Remember that all these police test requirements are not designed to measure your interests in developing your fitness; rather, they are designed to check whether you can perform the duties of a police officer or not.

Physical fitness standards for police officers test might be tough, but you need to appear in the test with the right mindset. Do not try to impress the invigilator by being overconfident. Please focus on the obstacles that you are required to perform and try to complete them within the given time.

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Mental Preparation For Police Physical Ability Test

Not Just Physical preparation, but you must also have mental preparation to pass the Police Physical ability test. While Appearing in the test, do not forget that aim of the fitness test, unlike your gym routine where you can end your exercise when you are tired, the Police officer PAT is to ensure that the obstacles are passed within the due time.

Police PAT aims to ensure that the candidates who do not possess the ability to perform the duties of a police officer shall be wiped out and I’m sure you do not want to be one of them. Therefore, the best advice for you is to have the right mental preparation.

The goal is not to impress the invigilators by self-advertisement rather. It is to complete the assigned obstacles within the due time.

Your Questions And Our Answers To Them

The last section of the article will be based on the questions that most of you have in your minds. After reading the answer to these questions, I assume no more queries regarding the police PAT test will be left in your mind.

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