EXCESSIVE FORCE
NYPD ‘fattest police dept. in the country’
The NYPD is being dragged down by overweight cops, and department brass isn’t doing anything about the ballooning problem, police sources told The Post.
“We really are the world’s largest police department,” said one veteran cop who has worked in Manhattan, Brooklyn and The Bronx. “We’re the fattest police department iin the country . . . because we have no requirement to stay in shape.”
Some cops are terrified that their out-of-shape colleagues won’t be able to provide backup in emergencies.
“If you have a 300-pound partner who can’t even run up a flight of stairs . . . It’s dangerous for everybody,” one cop said.
Ex-NYPD cop Jose Vega provided a vivid example of the problem last week when he sued for a job-related disability pension because his weight had soared from 180 to 395 pounds during 17 years on the force. NYPD sources blamed theth situation on the lack of any fitness mandate once cops leave the Police Academy.
“You see some of these officers out there: They’re fat, they’re sloppy, they’re disgusting, and they’re not healthy,” one cop said.
The FDNY, by contrast, requires firefighters and emergency medical technicians to undergo comprehensive annual physicals that include weigh-ins, cardiac exams, blood tests, X-rays and hearing and vision checks.
Those who fail to meet standards are sidelined until they do, the FDNY said.
In 2015, then-Police Commissioner Bill Bratton weighed implementing a British program that required fitness tests for bobbies, but NYPD officials said nothing came of the idea because it would have to be written into union contracts.
“We don’t have the London model — we have the London broil model,” one NYPD source joked.
Some police forces use incentives to keep their cops in shape. Chicago awards a $350 bonus for passing a fitness test. Columbus, Ohio, gives out cash, vacation days and ribbons. In 2015, surveillance video caught two tubby NYPD detectives unable to chase down a shooting suspect who fled custody in Harlem. The suspect had both hands cuffed behind his back. Some cops are so rotund that they struggle to buckle up in patrol cars and “need to literally move the seat back so they can fit,” another source said. One cop recalled responding to an incident at a Brooklyn housing project with a partner who stood 5 feet tall and topped 250 pounds. The elevator was out, the cop said, so the two had to climb the stairs. “Around the fourth flight, I turned around because I couldn’t hear her anymore,” the cop said. “I had to go down to the third flight and find her. She was folded over, hanging on to the wall. “God forbid there was an emergency, I’m pretty much on my own.” Another cop recalled that an NYPD counterterror unit set up an obstaclecourse test for applicants but dropped it because so few could complete it. “There was a wall you have to climb, and there were guys who had to walk around the wall because they’re so out of shape,” the cop said. “It was a 4-foot wall, not the Hoover Dam.” Only one NYPD union leader, Sergeants Benevolent Association President Ed Mullins, said he favored weight and strength requirements. “More needs to be done to address the physical and mental demands on police officers,” Mullins said. “Simply put,” he added, “it’s vital to officer safety.”