Physical Fitness and Use-of-Force Performance for Police Students<subtitle>The Impact of Body Height, Body Mass, Age, and Gender</subtitle>

All patrolling police officers, regardless of body composition, age, or gender, are expected to meet the physical challenges to which they are exposed. Some challenges can be extremely demanding, such as situations where officers must arrest an intractable subject. These situations might be influenc...

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Main Authors: Kenneth M. Henze, Lars Kaae Klausen, Gitte Fuentes Martín, Thomas Dillern
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Scandinavian University Press 2024-10-01
Series:Nordic Journal of Studies in Policing
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.idunn.no/doi/10.18261/njsp.11.1.6
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author Kenneth M. Henze
Lars Kaae Klausen
Gitte Fuentes Martín
Thomas Dillern
author_facet Kenneth M. Henze
Lars Kaae Klausen
Gitte Fuentes Martín
Thomas Dillern
author_sort Kenneth M. Henze
collection DOAJ
description All patrolling police officers, regardless of body composition, age, or gender, are expected to meet the physical challenges to which they are exposed. Some challenges can be extremely demanding, such as situations where officers must arrest an intractable subject. These situations might be influenced by the body height, body mass, age, and gender of the officer. This study aimed to explore relationships between these characteristics of forthcoming Danish police officers and their physical capacity (at a Physical Fitness Test – PFT) and their ability to handle an intractable subject during a Use-of-Force and Arrest Simulation Test (UFT). The study examines the impact of various physical characteristics on the performance of Danish police officers during a PFT and a UFT. It involved 646 Danish police students, and found that male students generally outperformed female students in both tests. Additionally, larger body composition conferred advantages to male students in the PFT, while larger body mass was disadvantageous for female students in both tests. Age negatively affected performance in the PFT for both genders. However, no correlation was observed between age and UFT performance. The findings underscore the importance of tailored training programmes early in police education to optimise performance in these tests.
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series Nordic Journal of Studies in Policing
spelling doaj-art-aade31aa36d5489b9a1b052bc9723f822025-08-20T03:04:31ZengScandinavian University PressNordic Journal of Studies in Policing2703-70452024-10-0111112310.18261/njsp.11.1.6Physical Fitness and Use-of-Force Performance for Police Students<subtitle>The Impact of Body Height, Body Mass, Age, and Gender</subtitle>Kenneth M. Henze0Lars Kaae Klausen1Gitte Fuentes Martín2Thomas Dillern3The Danish National Police College, Institute of Basic Education, Section for Operational TrainingThe Danish National Police College, Institute of Basic Education, Section for Operational TrainingThe Danish National Police College, Institute of Basic Education, Section for Operational TrainingThe Norwegian Police University College, dept. Bodø, NorwayAll patrolling police officers, regardless of body composition, age, or gender, are expected to meet the physical challenges to which they are exposed. Some challenges can be extremely demanding, such as situations where officers must arrest an intractable subject. These situations might be influenced by the body height, body mass, age, and gender of the officer. This study aimed to explore relationships between these characteristics of forthcoming Danish police officers and their physical capacity (at a Physical Fitness Test – PFT) and their ability to handle an intractable subject during a Use-of-Force and Arrest Simulation Test (UFT). The study examines the impact of various physical characteristics on the performance of Danish police officers during a PFT and a UFT. It involved 646 Danish police students, and found that male students generally outperformed female students in both tests. Additionally, larger body composition conferred advantages to male students in the PFT, while larger body mass was disadvantageous for female students in both tests. Age negatively affected performance in the PFT for both genders. However, no correlation was observed between age and UFT performance. The findings underscore the importance of tailored training programmes early in police education to optimise performance in these tests.https://www.idunn.no/doi/10.18261/njsp.11.1.6policelaw enforcementpolice use of forcebody compositionagegender
spellingShingle Kenneth M. Henze
Lars Kaae Klausen
Gitte Fuentes Martín
Thomas Dillern
Physical Fitness and Use-of-Force Performance for Police Students<subtitle>The Impact of Body Height, Body Mass, Age, and Gender</subtitle>
Nordic Journal of Studies in Policing
police
law enforcement
police use of force
body composition
age
gender
title Physical Fitness and Use-of-Force Performance for Police Students<subtitle>The Impact of Body Height, Body Mass, Age, and Gender</subtitle>
title_full Physical Fitness and Use-of-Force Performance for Police Students<subtitle>The Impact of Body Height, Body Mass, Age, and Gender</subtitle>
title_fullStr Physical Fitness and Use-of-Force Performance for Police Students<subtitle>The Impact of Body Height, Body Mass, Age, and Gender</subtitle>
title_full_unstemmed Physical Fitness and Use-of-Force Performance for Police Students<subtitle>The Impact of Body Height, Body Mass, Age, and Gender</subtitle>
title_short Physical Fitness and Use-of-Force Performance for Police Students<subtitle>The Impact of Body Height, Body Mass, Age, and Gender</subtitle>
title_sort physical fitness and use of force performance for police students subtitle the impact of body height body mass age and gender subtitle
topic police
law enforcement
police use of force
body composition
age
gender
url https://www.idunn.no/doi/10.18261/njsp.11.1.6
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