How does your physical fitness stack up against police officers?
How does your physical fitness stack up against police officers?
The Portland Police Department challenged the public to three fitness tests.
Updated: 5:35 AM EDT Apr 7, 2025
IS THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT. OKAY, WELL, WE ALL TRY TO STAY HEALTHY AND ACTIVE TO A CERTAIN DEGREE, BUT IF YOU WERE ACTUALLY TO TAKE A TEST ON IT, HOW WOULD YOU FARE TODAY? YOU CAN COMPETE WITH PORTLAND POLICE OFFICERS IN FITNESS CHALLENGES. AND THERE ARE PRIZES ON THE LINE. THAT’S WHERE WE FIND JACOB MURPHY LIVE THIS MORNING WITH PORTLAND POLICE. SO, JACOB, WHAT CAN YOU TELL US? YEAH. GOOD MORNING NORA. WELL, WE’VE GOT OUR FIRST FITNESS CHALLENGE OF THE MORNING. NOW WE’RE DOING THE PUSH UP CHALLENGE. AND IF YOU TAKE A LOOK AT THIS SIGN RIGHT HERE, IT TELLS YOU JUST EXACTLY HOW MANY YOU HAVE TO DO IN UNDER A MINUTE IN ORDER TO QUALIFY FOR THEIR FITNESS STANDARDS. SO I AM A MALE UNDER 29 YEARS OLD, 20 TO 29, SO I HAVE TO DO 29 IN A MINUTE. I DON’T KNOW IF I CAN DO THAT, BUT I’M GOING TO GIVE IT AN HONEST TRY. I REALLY AM, AND I’M JOINED BY A LOT OF THE OFFICERS HERE FROM PORTLAND PD AND EVEN SOME OFFICERS. OFFICER HOPEFULS, I GUESS, WOULD BE HOW I WOULD PUT IT. AND WE’RE GOING TO TRY TO DO THIS CHALLENGE. SO DO YOU WANT TO KIND OF EXPLAIN, YOU KNOW, THE RIGHT FORM JUST SO I KNOW WHAT I’M DOING. SO FOR THIS TEST, YOU’LL WANT TO SET UP ON THIS BLOCK HERE HAVE IN FRONT OF YOU. ALL RIGHT. ARMS ABOUT SHOULDER WIDTH APART. PUT YOUR FEET TOGETHER AND YOU’LL GO UP INTO A FULL PLANK POSITION. AND FOR A PUSH UP TO COUNT, YOU NEED TO GO ALL THE WAY DOWN TILL YOU TOUCH THIS BLOCK. YOU’LL HAVE IT CENTERED ON YOUR CHEST, AND THEN YOU’LL GO ALL THE WAY BACK UP TO A NEAR FULL EXTENSION. AND THAT’LL BE ONE. ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT. I THINK WE’RE WE’RE READY. AND WE’VE GOT A TIMER THAT’S READY TO GO. YOU GUYS ARE JUST PROBABLY GOING TO HEAR A LOT OF GRUNTING FROM ME FOR ABOUT A MINUTE. YEAH, BUT SHALL WE. LET’S DO IT ALL GOOD. 321. GO. ONE. TWO. OKAY, SO I WAS JUST TELLING EVERYONE THAT I GO TO THE GYM EVERY FRIDAY AND I DON’T THINK IT’S ENOUGH TO HELP ME PASS THIS TEST. OKAY. THINK I’M SIX SEVEN. EIGHT. OH MY GOD, I THINK EVERYONE’S BEATING ME RIGHT? NINE. TEN 30S OKAY, I’VE GOT 30S LOCK IN. JACOB, LOCK IN. 1213. 14. 15 THE FORM IS CRUMBLING. 60. 70. 80. OH MY GOD. 1919 OKAY, CRANK THEM OUT. TWO. ONE TIME. OH MY GOD, YOU GUYS, I’M SO SORRY YOU HAD TO LISTEN TO THAT. WOW. OKAY, I THINK I GOT TO 20 I THAT’S PRETTY GOOD. I DIDN’T I DIDN’T MAKE THE CUT TO BE A POLICE OFFICER, BUT I DID MY BEST. SO WAIT, WHAT WAS EVERYONE’S SCORES? 52, 52. 70, 70. OH MY GOD. 38. OKAY, WELL. AND WHAT WAS YOUR SCORE? 15. OKAY, WELL, WE’RE ALL AT DIFFERENT LEVELS HERE, BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN YOU CAN’T TRAIN AND BUILD UP AND BECOME STRONGER. WE’VE GOT MORE FITNESS TESTS TO COVER, BUT FOR NOW, LIVE IN PORTLAND. I’M JACOB MURPHY FOR MAINE’S TOTAL COVERAGE. JACOB, I NEED YOU TO KNOW THAT VICTORIA AND I WERE THERE WITH YOU. WE DID THE PUSH UPS IN OUR DRESSES AND HEELS. YES. NO YOU DIDN’T. YES WE DID, YES WE DID, YES WE DID. I TOOK A BREAK BETWEEN. I SPLIT THEM INTO THREE SETS. BUT, YOU KNOW, WE STILL DID IT IN THE TIME FRAME. SO WE GOT IT DONE. WE’LL SEND PHOTO EVIDENCE. OKAY. VIDEO EVIDENCE. WE’
How does your physical fitness stack up against police officers?
The Portland Police Department challenged the public to three fitness tests.
Updated: 5:35 AM EDT Apr 7, 2025
Being a police officer requires a certain amount of physical fitness. People applying for the job need to be strong and fast, so how do they measure that?That was the focus of Saturday’s event at the University of Southern Maine’s Field House called “Can You Run Faster Than a Cop?” Held in partnership with the university’s Criminology Club and the Recovery Oriented Campus Center, students and the public were invited to see if they met the physical requirements. “We have a lot of people who have applied to be police officers who unfortunately fail the test when they come here, or at least don’t meet the standards. And so it’s kind of an eye-opening experience to, to see where people are at physically,” said Sgt. Drew Castonguay with the Portland Police Department.There are three feats people were tested on: how many pushups they could do in a minute, how many sit-ups they could do in a minute and how fast they could run a mile and a half.Depending on your gender and age group, there are certain thresholds you have to meet.Jacob Murphy gave the tests a shot Sunday morning, however, despite his efforts, he couldn’t pass the strength tests.Portland police are hiring, and anyone who passed Sunday’s challenges can use that toward their application. Anyone who failed can always try again. “Just failing this shouldn’t shut down their dreams. It should just motivate them to continue, or at least I hope it will,” Castonguay said.
Being a police officer requires a certain amount of physical fitness. People applying for the job need to be strong and fast, so how do they measure that?
That was the focus of Saturday’s event at the University of Southern Maine’s Field House called “Can You Run Faster Than a Cop?” Held in partnership with the university’s Criminology Club and the Recovery Oriented Campus Center, students and the public were invited to see if they met the physical requirements.
“We have a lot of people who have applied to be police officers who unfortunately fail the test when they come here, or at least don’t meet the standards. And so it’s kind of an eye-opening experience to, to see where people are at physically,” said Sgt. Drew Castonguay with the Portland Police Department.
There are three feats people were tested on: how many pushups they could do in a minute, how many sit-ups they could do in a minute and how fast they could run a mile and a half.
Depending on your gender and age group, there are certain thresholds you have to meet.
Jacob Murphy gave the tests a shot Sunday morning, however, despite his efforts, he couldn’t pass the strength tests.
Portland police are hiring, and anyone who passed Sunday’s challenges can use that toward their application. Anyone who failed can always try again. “Just failing this shouldn’t shut down their dreams. It should just motivate them to continue, or at least I hope it will,” Castonguay said.
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