Removed

Edited May 6, 20169 yr by TheGeeker

"Dream big, work hard" JJ Watt

Don't ever tell yourself you can't do something buddy. You can.

Put your mind to it, and you can. Give it your all, and you can. Shoot for the stars bro, godspeed! :)

Go for it, dude.

They'll train you and help you succeed. I'm actually considering joining the academy for the LAPD, so I'm a little nervous as well in regards to physical tests. But I know that so long as a push myself to do better, to give it my all and improve, that I'll succeed. And you can too.

No need to ask others, just be confident in yourself. If you feel like your upperbody not as strong as you'd like it to be you should take small steps to improve that. Your the only we who can decide if your ready.

On 4/12/2016 at 8:48 PM, TheGeeker said:

First of all my County has an Explorer program. (Orange County California) we have a group here in my city which is about 16 people. I am a very small person weighing 70 punds and standing 4 11''. This is something that I want to do but is it something I can do? Also, if you know what physical requirements are needed? All the site says is No major physical defects while other programs similar to this have timed miles, 3ft walls and push up and sit up grades. (I run 12 min mile on average and have no upper body strength.)

Is it 70 or did you leave out the '1' in 170? Your BMI is way out of line if you only weigh 70 pounds, even at that height. Your BMI (body mass index) is rated as a 14.1, classifying you as underweight. You should be at a BMI between 18.5 to 24.9. This is not to say you can't participate in the explorers program, but you being a police officer with your current weight simply is not feasible. You wouldn't be hired until you put on more weight and strengthen up. A kevlar vest weighs over 16 pounds (almost 1/4 of your weight), the belt you'd have to wear is an additional 20-25 pounds totaling at least half of your own body weight, if not more, making you essentially unable to move freely. How do you expect to run a 12 minute mile with all of that on you? You also need upper body strength in order to perform take-downs on people who don't want to cooperate with you, force people's arms behind their backs, perform headlocks, keep yourself from getting pinned by somebody trying to fight you, drag somebody to a patrol vehicle who doesn't want to take a ride to jail, etc.

Every police academy has different requirements. Each website usually has a table of figures that tells you how many push ups & sit ups you need for your age group, gender and body type, how quickly you have to run a mile (usually between 11-13 minutes for a young adult), how much weight you need to be able to bench press (usually 96% of your body weight for a young adult male), etc.

Like the rest of the people who commented, I encourage you to not give up on something you want. Achieve your goal. But I'm telling you the truth that apparently nobody has told you yet: You need to put on more weight, and increase your body strength or you won't get hired for anything except dispatch. Any male you encounter could toss you around like a rag doll if you only weigh 70 pounds. You'd find a loaded pistol to be heavy if you've never picked one up before, and a tactical rifle to be more than 1/4 of your body weight.  I'm not here specifically to piss in your cereal, so to speak, but you need to be told the truth, because you can't fix something if you don't know that it's broken.

Edited April 14, 201610 yr by unr3al

4 minutes ago, unr3al said:

Is it 70 or did you leave out the '1' in 170? Your BMI is way out of line if you only weigh 70 pounds, even at that height. Your BMI (body mass index) is rated as a 14.1, classifying you as underweight. You should be at a BMI between 18.5 to 24.9. This is not to say you can't participate in the explorers program, but you being a police officer with your current weight simply is not feasible. You wouldn't be hired until you put on more weight and strengthen up. A kevlar vest weighs over 16 pounds (almost 1/4 of your weight), the belt you'd have to wear is an additional 20-25 pounds totaling at least half of your own body weight, if not more, making you essentially unable to move freely. How do you expect to run a 12 minute mile with all of that on you? You also need upper body strength in order to perform take-downs on people who don't want to cooperate with you, force people's arms behind their backs, perform headlocks, keep yourself from getting pinned by somebody trying to fight you, drag somebody to a patrol vehicle who doesn't want to take a ride to jail, etc.

Every police academy has different requirements. Each website usually has a table of figures that tells you how many push ups & sit ups you need for your age group and body type, how quickly you have to run a mile (usually between 11-13 minutes for a young adult), how much weight you need to be able to bench press (usually 96% of your body weight for a young adult male), etc.

Like the rest of the people who commented, I encourage you to not give up on something you want. Achieve your goal. But I'm telling you the truth that apparently nobody has told you yet: You need to put on more weight, and increase your body strength or you won't get hired for anything except dispatch. Any male you encounter could toss you around like a rag doll if you only weigh 70 pounds. You'd find a loaded pistol to be heavy if you've never picked one up before, and a tactical rifle to be more than 1/4 of your body weight.  I'm not here specifically to piss in your cereal, so to speak, but you need to be told the truth, because you can't fix something if you don't know that it's broken.

Yeah. I totally agree with this, but keep in mind I am just joining the explorers and would not expect to even apply for another 12-15 years. I would go to college, get a job in maybe networking or something along those lines, work for a few years and evaluate then.

6 minutes ago, TheGeeker said:

Yeah. I totally agree with this, but keep in mind I am just joining the explorers and would not expect to even apply for another 12-15 years. I would go to college, get a job in maybe networking or something along those lines, work for a few years and evaluate then.

It's always good to have a fallback plan. There are tons of people who are very well qualified for positions in a police department who will never get hired. Those who do are very lucky to get the job, so make sure you have another way to earn a living if this career path doesn't pan out. I highly advise you to start working out and getting in the proper shape while you're young. As you get older, it gets harder to lose excess fat and build up muscle mass. It's good for your overall health to stay fit anyway, and the most important ages on the grand scheme of things to be healthy are between years 30-50, as any major health problems that pop up or form during that time are going to shorten your elderly years, making your lifespan shorter. So get into shape while it's easy. Planet Fitness is running a program right now where you can go work out for $10 a month. Many of those gyms are 24/7 too, so you can keep up regular workouts without having to worry about school or work schedules. Start off on machines, then work your way towards free weights. For running, a treadmill is nice, but I prefer running or hiking in the real world in different weather conditions. If you want to simulate running with the weight of police gear on, fill up a backpack and run with that strapped onto you.

Edited April 14, 201610 yr by unr3al

I have considered being a cop as a career but it's one of those things where you need to sit down and think. Is this the job for me? Think about every aspect of the job. You're gonna see things you don't want to see, and do things you don't want to do. But you will also be helping people and keeping your community safe. So if that outweighs the negatives for you, the go right ahead.

If your the kind of person who wants to be a cop for the glamour side of it (the cars, the gun, sirens and lights etc.) then don't join. (I must admit the glamour side is very tempting and if you play LSPDFR, your basically playing 'The Glamour side of Policing Simulator') then your probably not fit to be a cop.

If you are determined to be a cop, then nothing should hold you back. You will fight for it. Any obstacle in your way will no longer be an obstacle because you will fight to jump over it. If you want it, then work hard to get fit, and work hard to get anything that will increase your chance of getting hired. If you're willing to do this, then I would feel safe knowing that the cops here will protect me.

I hope you enjoy my motivational speech written at 12:42 AM. 

On 4/12/2016 at 7:48 PM, TheGeeker said:

First of all my County has an Explorer program. (Orange County California) we have a group here in my city which is about 16 people. I am a very small person weighing 70 punds and standing 4 11''. This is something that I want to do but is it something I can do? Also, if you know what physical requirements are needed? All the site says is No major physical defects while other programs similar to this have timed miles, 3ft walls and push up and sit up grades. (I run 12 min mile on average and have no upper body strength.)

My city: http://ocsd.org/news/details?NewsID=1742&TargetID=88

County: http://ocsd.org/divisions/fieldops/reserve/449/requirements

http://ocsd.org/divisions/fieldops/reserve/449

16 people in your explorer group? And you're asking if you need to meet physical standards? Yeah, you should be good no matter what. I think we've got 60+ people but usually 15 or so show up... I'm not really the best when it comes to running but I can do fighting, and push ups and all the other shit no problem. Though, whenever I joined all I had to do was sign a big packet that had some background on me. I've yet to be asked to do physical standard tests and doubt it'd happen. I did however get asked to do it whenever I was a fire department explorer... And it was maybe 90* outside and usually whenever we do stuff physically it was in the full on fire gear so I was like yeah I'm not gonna have a ride tomorrow. Peace. But in all actuality you should be good man. I think they meant by "No major physical defects" Like seizures or something? Stuff that'd make it nearly impossible for you to do standard trainings or police work. 

2 hours ago, LCSO Sheriff Jester said:

I think they meant by "No major physical defects" Like seizures or something? Stuff that'd make it nearly impossible for you to do standard trainings or police work. 

I have epilepsy and it makes no difference in any emergency work provided you don't talk endlessly about it, and you take medication to control it. I haven't had a seizure in 10 years (since I started taking medication for it), and unless they specifically ask you to list every medical condition you have, I wouldn't make mention of it. If you're truly concerned about something like that, you may submit your concern to a review board when you get to the police academy, and they will deliberate on whether it's going to be an issue or not. But as I mentioned above, if it doesn't interfere with your life, it's not an issue. I take two pills along with my multivitamin and allergy medication in the morning and I'm the same person I was 10 years ago.

I'm going to be pretty blunt and say you seem very short and also very underweight. I'm not sure about your age, but depending on that you may not be done growing. I'm not sure on police standards, but military has very tight restriction on height/weight. I sit right on the border of unacceptable, even though I get told I need to put on weight by my peers, but not to the military. You're best bet it to speak with someone there, they can give you a more trusted answer. 

 

As for being a police officer, it's not for everyone. You will be dealing with people twice the size of you, and it would be very difficult for someone of your size to step up to. Eat healthy, put on some wight, and train. 

I'm in kind of the situation your in. I'm testing for my black belt (in like 8 months, but it's still coming up quick). You have to do like 100 sit ups, push ups, 500 jumping jacks. So my reccomendation is just train yourself and hope for the best. That's what I'll do.

The only thing you can do is train hard and believe in yourself!