By Bruce Siceloff
The News & Observer
RALEIGH-DURHAM — Get fit or you might get fired.
That’s what Raleigh-Durham International Airport administrators are telling 11 airport police officers who have fallen short of new RDU standards for sit-ups, pushups and fleetness of foot.
The officers, including Police Chief Donna E. Waters, flunked a fitness test in December. They’ll be tested again after June 1.
To get in shape, a few officers have joined private gyms. Others are puffing on treadmills, hefting free weights and skipping rope in exercise rooms at RDU’s general aviation terminal and its emergency services center.
Waters gets her workout on a track around an old RDU park-and-ride lot. She started running only because she had to. But she swears she is glad about it.
“As much as I don’t like to be forced to do something, this is the only way I would have gotten out there,” said Waters, 46. “I really feel good physically when I’m done, and mentally incredibly better. So it’s a good thing.”
RDU administrators got help from a fitness consulting firm to develop standards, keyed to the demands of the job, for airport police officers and new recruits. “Whether it’s here or at any law enforcement agency, it’s understood that fitness is part of the job,” said Cleon Umphrey, RDU’s human resources director.
The test requires at least 22 sit-ups in a minute, 12 pushups without a time limit, a 300-meter run in 77 seconds or less, and a 1.5-mile run in 16 minutes 31 seconds or less. Not “the most difficult test in the world,” Waters said, but “a challenge for somebody who’s not in shape.”
Eighteen officers passed the test in December. Waters and the 10 others who failed received letters informing them that they would have a few months to prepare for a high-stakes retest.
Anyone who fails again could face “disciplinary action up to and including dismissal,” said the letter from James M. Witherspoon, RDU safety officer.
Waters, who has smiling eyes and a husky laugh, is a good sport. She got her law enforcement start 26 years ago as a patrol officer in Jacksonville, near Camp Lejeune.
“I policed the Marines,” she said, grinning. “So I had to be fit.” She joined the RDU department in 1993 and became chief in 1999. “Sadly, because I’ve been behind a desk for so long, I’ve allowed myself to get out of shape.”
RDU police are armed, sworn law officers who patrol terminals and garages, keep unauthorized people out of restricted areas, investigate thefts and help travelers.
Sometimes they have to get physical, fast.
That was the case March 5 when a 22-year-old man crashed through a glass barrier to enter the passenger concourse at a closed and locked security checkpoint. An officer ran the length of RDU’s sprawling Terminal A to subdue the intruder, who put up a fight and was charged with assault.
New hires for law enforcement agencies have to meet some physical standards before they start training, but police and sheriff’s departments vary in their approach to fitness requirements for current officers.
Standards often loose
“It’s more the exception that they actually have a hard-and-fast standard for their incumbent folks,” said John Combs, who teaches police fitness instructors at the N.C. Justice Academy in Salemburg. “Any departments that are doing that, I applaud them.”
The fitness standards are part of the airport’s employee wellness program, Umphrey said. About 10 airport fire and rescue workers also will face the test this spring. RDU is helping officers with diet and lifestyle counseling and with physical training tips.
“We are confident they will do the things they need to do to reach those minimums,” Umphrey said. “This takes discipline and self-motivation.”
Citing the confidentiality of personnel records, he declined to identify those who flunked in December. But Waters volunteered her own status in an interview.
The chief says there is no doubt she’s going to succeed.
“Oh, I’m going to pass it,” Waters said. “I’m going to smoke it.”
COULD YOU PASS THE TEST?
The physical fitness test requires RDU police officers to:
— Do 22 or more sit-ups in 1 minute (followed by rest for five to 10 minutes).
— Run 300 meters in 77 seconds or faster (followed by rest for five to 10 minutes).
— Do 12 or more pushups. (followed by rest for five to 15 minutes, then a cardio warmup for two to three minutes).
— Run 1.5 mile in 16 minutes, 31 seconds, or faster.
Donna Waters, police chief for Raleigh-Durham airport, stretches before jogging at a park-and-ride lot.
Copyright 2008 The News & Observer