PA House Votes to Lower Fitness Standards for Police Recruits

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives voted on November 14th to pass a bill lowering the minimum fitness standards for police recruits.

How much lower are the new requirements?

Current standards require recruits to perform at least to the 30th percentile level on the Cooper Standards test to enroll in a police officer training program and at the 50th percentile level to graduate from the police academy. The new lower standards in this bill require only a 15th percentile performance to enter training and a 30th percentile ranking to graduate.

So the current minimum performance level to enter training is enough to graduate with the lower standards in this bill. By the Cooper standards, a 15th percentile performance is rated “very poor” and 30 percent is rated “poor.” That doesn’t seem to be a plan for building a quality police force.

Supporters say the change will expand the pool of municipal police recruits amid a significant rise in vacancies across the state. A 2021 national survey conducted from the Police Executive Research Forum showed a 45% increase in retirements and an 18% increase in resignations over the previous year …

Critics meanwhile:

… pointed the finger at lowered morale, particularly in Philadelphia, where officers feel unsupported by department officials.

Also of note:

At the state level, the administration’s decision to ax the college degree requirement for prospective troopers has spiked applications 258% during its last enrollment period. The interest is so high, the agency said it opened a second hiring round that will close on Jan. 31.

This indicates there are ways to increase the number of applicants without compromising on their fitness.

How did our local representatives vote?

To his credit, our PA Representative Jake Banta, voted against the lower standards while representatives Bizzarro, Harkins and Merski in Erie, voted for lower standards during the roll call vote.

There are some jobs where compromising on the quality of applicants doesn’t make sense, especially when the compromise is directly related to job performance and the safety of everyone involved. Why some representatives voted for this measure is hard to understand.

Lowered fitness standards for police recruits passes House