Discussion on the height and physical fitness of Gardai.

tayto lover

I'm tall so now i can go to China and frighten all their little policemen.

Victor

wonski wrote: »

I don't want to drag it for 20 pages. Do you want me to Google about how tall well built people are better fit for service than the short skinny ones?

Does every member of the Garda need to be intimidating?

What if there is a specific need for a smaller Garda, e.g. when your large garda can't fit through a hole in / climb over a wall / fence?

What if you need a plain clothes / undercover officer?

punisher5112

tayto lover wrote: »

I'm tall so now i can go to China and frighten all their little policemen.

Don't be silly they would karate chop you in half.....

mynamejeff

wonski wrote: »

I am not saying there is a direct link, and I didn't even bring it up, but it is my observation.

I believe now its all down to BMI when it comes to recruitment, but also believe the force should be respectably looking, and it's not always the case.

BMI is a load of poppycock.

I at my fittest many years ago my BMI put me at overweight regardless of the fact that i was playing inter varsity rugby at a high level and capable of running a mile and a half in just over 9 minutes.

BMI seem doesn't take into consideration bone density large muscle mass and body shape differences

Potential-Monke

I was a member for 10 years. I passed the 'fitness' test easily when I joined in 2007. Not exactly a fitness test, but I passed it easily enough, and I was not an active person at the time. Queue 5-7 years of terrible eating, horrible shifts, and the only places being open after a certain hour being a take away. Couple it with the fact that you may not get your break, so preparing something to cook at work was rarely if ever an option. And people have personal preferences, just like I don't like reheated food, so i rarely brought in food. Then, unless you're on the beat, which very quickly became rare due to a lack of numbers, you are more or less sitting for most of the day, be it in the car, at the public office or in the comms room. Eventually, the weight will go on, and there is no requirement to stay fit. Well, there wasn't anyway.

Throw on top of that that most shifts were 10+ hours (after the new roster, prior it was 8 hours min but up to 7 days on the trot), and the last thing I wanted to do when I got home was cook, just wanted to crash, so take-aways (36 of them) willing to deliver. It's very easy to fall into a routine. I put on 3 1/2 stone in those few years, and it took me a long time to find the right way to lose it (again, everyone is different, so what works for one person won't for another). It eventually took me €1500 and 3 months of personal (2-1) training to lose that weight, but I was mentally prepared for it, so that's why it worked.

The thought of keeping myself fit for work came after that, but then they started allowing the RSU an hour out of each shift to train at work, but no, not for the regular, so why should I waste my own time, considering most of it was not mine anyway (court etc on rest days).

So if they want fit Gardaí, they need to either make it part of the job, or an ongoing requirement from joining today and onwards (can't retrospectively do it, not in the contract).

Height, there should be a minimum, but the reason it was dropped as usually the taller people back in the day were best suited to being a Garda. Now, the taller people don't need to become a Garda as there are so many different options out there now. Anyway, policing is not about size and fitness, it's about being able to diffuse situations, and if you have an intimidating Garda in a heated situation, they're less likely to have the calming effect, instead using intimidation to stop anything, which solves nothing in the long run.

But yes, there should be a minimum, but not as strict as it used to be.