Meeting The NYPD Physical Requirements 1895

This illustration from the December 21, 1895 Harper’s Weekly shows some of the tests put to applicants of the NYPD.

Instead of Tammany Hall patronage to get on the police force, tougher rules were instituted by the new Police Commissioners, among them Theodore Roosevelt. Under civil service rules, men applying to the police department would undergo three distinct examinations. One for medical, another for mental and a rigid physical for strength and agility. Among the illustrations above show a lung capacity test and grip test.

Tests were made for the strength of the back, arms, legs and muscles in the chest and abdomen. Though unsaid, the NYPD wanted applicants to be big, strong and intimidating. To become a member of the police department’s elite Broadway Squad which began in 1898, you would have to be at least six foot two.

Among the other feats in the physical examination was the ability to do 10 chin-ups on an inclined ladder, followed by lowering and raising oneself 10 times on parallel bars. Most applicants could not accomplish this.

NYPD policeman photo: Daily Mail

Though the high failure rate might sound discouraging, compared to modern crime fighters, it might not be so bad. The 19th century applicants were generally in good shape. Only between five and ten percent of the applicants who passed the medical and mental exams failed the physical exam.

Many of today’s law enforcement officers are just big.

According to a 2014 study of over 15,000 working adults by The American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 41% of America’s police officers, fire fighters and security officers are obese.

In measuring obesity by occupation that is the highest in country.

If you’re wondering who the slimmest U.S. workers are, they are economists, scientists and psychologists.

What does that mean?

Draw your own conclusions.