Rapid City Police Department officials are considering revamping the department's physical training requirements.

The department is also looking at the possibility of setting a flat standard for all members of the department instead of having a standard for people of different ages and genders, which is how things have been done in the past.

"We're doing a fitness evaluation of everyone to see how we compare with some of the local, state and national standards on fitness," Chief Steve Allender said.

Allender said the department may or may not change its standards - it depends on research that's done after the testing is completed.

"We want to go to the table and see what fits our department best," he said. "Nothing is out of the question at this point."

The police department's fitness instructors began testing department members last week. Officers, investigators and administration members are being tested on their vertical jumps, sit-ups, push-ups, 1.5-mile runs and 300-meter dashes.

"Right now, we're just at the initial phases of implementing these tests," said Detective Wayne Keefe, a fitness instructor for the police department.

Department members won't be required to meet certain times during this first round of testing.

Keefe said the department is doing the tests "just to kind of get an overall gauge of where the department is on the whole, to see where we're headed."

Recent national trends are part of the reason the department decided to look at the standards, according to Keefe. The police department's fitness standards have been based on the Cooper Institute of Aerobics Research in Houston, Texas.

Keefe said there has been litigation in the U.S. from people who have argued that allowing lower standards for certain people is unfair. That has caused the Institute to recommend different testing.

Allender said the Rapid City Police Department won't necessarily change its standards just because the Cooper Institute is changing standards.

"Our fitness instructors keep up on the national trends, but it doesn't mean that we're doing anything wrong or shouldn't keep the same standards," he said. "It's time to review."

Department officials will take some time before deciding whether or not to set a flat standard for everyone or continue to gauge the standards based on age and gender, Keefe said.

He said there are advantages and disadvantages to both. A flat standard may leave less room for argument, but could leave some officers at a disadvantage.

"Should we expect a 60-year-old person to do the same thing as a 20-year-old guy? Common sense is going to tell you the 20-year-old is going to be a whole lot more physically fit," he said.

"But we expect them to go out and do the same job, so we're trying to meet that in the middle somewhere."

Keefe said the 300-meter dash is a new test the department is trying this year. The test has been recommended by the Cooper Institute.

"It's a job practical thing," he said. "If we're going to jump out of the car and go take off and chase somebody, 300 (meters) is a good measure of that."

The department also took the bench press and leg press out of this year's test. Keefe said that was done because the universal machines with all of those functions are not standard equipment at police departments anymore.

Allender said he isn't sure when a decision will be made to keep the old standards, set new standards or do something else.

He said the testing will probably take several weeks or even a few months to complete. The data will then be analyzed, and a decision will be made.

Allender said having physical fitness standards is important in general.

"It's important to have employees that are physically fit," he said. "It's a physically demanding job and I believe that fit employees are more productive and are healthier and have a lesser chance of being injured in the line of duty."

Contact Ryan Woodard at 394-8412 or ryan.woodard@rapidcityjournal.com