Approve Updated Police Department Physical Fitness Program Policy #315

The career of a Peace Officer is ranked among the most stressful occupations. The Ramsey Police Department continually strives to help its staff cope with the realities of the job, where the members of the department are exposed to situations on a daily basis that, thankfully, most people rarely experience in a lifetime.

In alignment with the Strategic Plan Initiative to "Strive for high organizational morale and employee retention", staff is requesting and recommending updating the current Police Department Physical Fitness Program Policy. The original policy was adopted on June 1, 2011. Since that time, the policy has undergone revisions, most recently in August 2020.

Staff recommends this change because the current policy does not comply with the Law Enforcement Labor Services (LELS) union contracts. The relevant sections of the LELS contracts are attached. Additionally, the 1/1/2012 hire date listed in the current policy sets different requirements for some Officers than for others. The goal of the physical fitness program is to have healthy Officers, and staff believe this proposed update ensures that all licensed peace officers can accomplish that. The attached updated policy does not conflict with union contracts and treats everyone the same. Additionally, this update formalizes the current, longstanding new officer testing conducted during the recruitment process.

The City Attorney has reviewed the proposed updated policy.

Attached to this case are the current policy and the proposed policy.

Staff recommends approving the proposed updates to the Police Department Physical Fitness Program Policy #315.

Motion to approve the updated Police Department Physical Fitness Program Policy #315 updates as proposed.