We Need You: Influence of Hiring Demand and Modified Applicant Testing on the Physical Fitness of Law Enforcement Recruits

Lockie, Robert G.; Dawes, J. Jay; Moreno, Matthew R.; McGuire, Megan B.; Ruvalcaba, Tomas J.; Bloodgood, Ashley M.; Dulla, Joseph M.; Orr, Robin M.

doi:10.3390/ijerph17207512

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We Need You: Influence of Hiring Demand and Modified Applicant Testing on the Physical Fitness of Law Enforcement Recruits

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Department of Kinesiology, California State University, Fullerton, CA 92835, USA

School of Kinesiology, Applied Health and Recreation, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA

Tactical Research Unit, Bond University, Robina, QLD 4229, Australia

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(20), 7512; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17207512

Received: 29 July 2020 / Revised: 12 October 2020 / Accepted: 13 October 2020 / Published: 15 October 2020

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Testing and Physical Conditioning for Tactical Populations)

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Abstract

A challenge for law enforcement agencies is the many positions that need filling. Agencies may modify their applicant test battery (ATB; multilevelled testing including fitness, background checks, psychological evaluations) to increase the hiring pool of potential recruits by augmenting the utility of testing. This study determined fitness differences of law enforcement recruits hired under two different ATB protocols. Retrospective analysis was conducted on seven academy classes (442 males, 84 females) hired under an older ATB, and one class (45 males, 13 females) hired under a newer ATB. Recruits completed the following before academy: 60 s push-ups and sit-ups (muscular endurance); vertical jump (lower-body power); medicine ball throw (upper-body power); 75 yard pursuit run (75PR; change-of-direction speed); and 20 m multistage fitness test (20MSFT; aerobic fitness). Independent sample t-tests (p ≤ 0.001) and effect sizes (d) evaluated between-group fitness differences for recruits hired under the different ATB protocols (combined sexes, males, and females). There were no significant differences between the ATB groups. However, newer ATB female recruits completed 13% fewer 20MSFT shuttles than the older ATB group, which, although not significant (p = 0.007), did have a moderate effect (d = 0.62). Females hired under the newer ATB had lower aerobic fitness, which could impact physical training performance and graduation. View Full-Text

Keywords: 75 yard pursuit run; aerobic fitness; multistage fitness test; occupational testing; police; tactical

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Lockie, R.G.; Dawes, J.J.; Moreno, M.R.; McGuire, M.B.; Ruvalcaba, T.J.; Bloodgood, A.M.; Dulla, J.M.; Orr, R.M. We Need You: Influence of Hiring Demand and Modified Applicant Testing on the Physical Fitness of Law Enforcement Recruits. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 7512. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17207512

AMA Style

Lockie RG, Dawes JJ, Moreno MR, McGuire MB, Ruvalcaba TJ, Bloodgood AM, Dulla JM, Orr RM. We Need You: Influence of Hiring Demand and Modified Applicant Testing on the Physical Fitness of Law Enforcement Recruits. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17(20):7512. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17207512

Chicago/Turabian Style

Lockie, Robert G., J. J. Dawes, Matthew R. Moreno, Megan B. McGuire, Tomas J. Ruvalcaba, Ashley M. Bloodgood, Joseph M. Dulla, and Robin M. Orr. 2020. "We Need You: Influence of Hiring Demand and Modified Applicant Testing on the Physical Fitness of Law Enforcement Recruits" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 20: 7512. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17207512

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