Pasco Sheriff's Office Begins Voluntary Civilian Fitness Assessment
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NEW PORT RICHEY -- Pasco Sheriff Bob White's latest innovative concept is generating a lot of buzz, and sweat among its civilian members. In September, the agency began a voluntary fitness assessment program for its civilian employees. Since 2005, sworn PSO law enforcement and detention deputies have had to meet annual mandatory fitness standards. Prospective sworn applicants must also meet the assessment standards before being hired. The Assessment Civilian members who meet the standards listed below are awarded one day of paid leave. They can take the assessment every fiscal year and receive the leave incentive. The civilian assessment is actually the mid-level fitness category that sworn members can achieve (for which they receive a ribbon to wear on their uniform), and includes the following: |
Josh Short has his blood pressure checked by Training Cpl. Michael Sim before the start of the assessment. |
- 21 push-ups
- 29 sit-ups
- A 1.5 mile run in a time not exceeding 14:46 minutes
- A vertical leap of at least 17.5 inches
- A 300-meter run in a time not exceeding 64 seconds
Healthy Changes
"We're hoping that increased fitness and better health is a common goal of all our members throughout the agency," said Training Section Lieutenant Joe Gleaton. "It is a goal that can now be shared and rewarded to both certified and civilian members."
The new civilian fitness assessment is the latest part of a series of programs, general orders and improvements aimed at increasing the overall health of all Pasco Sheriff's Office employees.
This includes:
Deputies from the PSO Training Section coordinate both civilian and sworn member assessments. These deputies are first trained at the internationally renowned Cooper Institute in Dallas, Texas. There they receive a scientific-based education on fitness and nutrition and are certified as personal trainers. "We will all feel better when we have attained a condition of wellness manifested through exercise and healthy eating habits," said Training Section Cpl. Michael Sim. Corporal Sim also teaches a class on health wellness during the mandatory annual in-class training that civilians attend, which includes topics such as sexual harassment and substance abuse. |
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Josh attempts the vertical leap. |
Harder Than It Looks
The civilian assessment is given twice a month at the Training Section located at the Pasco-Hernando Community College in Dade City. Civilian employees are allowed to attempt the assessment once per year while "on the clock." Any additional attempts must be on their own time.
During a recent humid morning in October, Records Unit Clerk Josh Short showed up to give it a try. Short has been a civilian employee for more than two years and is also a Pasco Sheriff's Office Explorer. The 20-year-old Dade City resident is scheduled to attend the Law Enforcement Academy at PHCC in March. He is currently a sophomore attending St. Leo University working towards his bachelor's degree in criminal justice. Short has long had a goal of becoming a law enforcement officer and he plans on applying to the Pasco Sheriff's Office upon completion of his academy and passing the state certification requirements.
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Before the assessment, Short is first given a blood pressure check administered by Cpl. Sim. That is followed by a 3 minute step test to measure his "heart rate recovery," or how much the heart rate falls during the first minute after peak exercise. Both of these tests can discover unknown health risks. Some agency members have been found to have high blood pressure that they didn't know about before being tested. Short began the assessment with the vertical leap, and easily passed with inches to spare. He next tried the sit-ups, where he came up just short by one sit-up during the one minute time frame allotted for this portion of the test. Undaunted and perhaps even more motivated, Short sped through the 300 meter dash with plenty of time to spare. But the toll of that part of the assessment would weigh upon him for the rest of the day. |
Part Two of the assessment: sit-ups. |
He successfully completed the push-ups exercise, but it was evident his strength was ebbing. He began the last portion of the assessment, the 1.5 mile run, but had to stop due to dizziness.
"That 300 meter dash just killed me," he explained later. "But now I know what I have to work on, and I will also have to train completing all parts of the test together. It is definitely harder to do than I thought it would be."
Two members of the agency's Child Protection Investigations Unit can claim bragging rights to be the first civilians to both attempt and pass the assessment. Todd Bennett and Jodi McCain work for the Sheriff's Office investigating allegations of child abuse and neglect. Bennett, 32, is a former professional minor league hockey player who continues to stay fit by playing in an ice hockey league and coaching both ice and roller hockey teams for teenage boys.
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