Applicants for police officer run through physical exams

Keith Bryant/The Weekly Vista The police department’s applicants run along the trail at the Loch Lomond recreation area.
Keith Bryant/The Weekly Vista The police department’s applicants run along the trail at the Loch Lomond recreation area.

Sergeant Scott Vanatta briefed the 15 applicants on what they were about to do -- two-and-a-half laps around the Loch Lomond recreation area, coming out to a mile and a half, followed by a trip back to Town Center to perform push-ups and sit-ups.

The police applicant testing was Sept. 27. After the run, several applicants were panting and nobody was free of sweat.

In the City Hall Training Room, applicants worked in pairs, grunting and gritting their teeth as they each put in every push-up and sit-up they could within the allotted minute for each, while their associates shouted encouragement all the way through.

"You could see they cheered others on," Vanatta said. "It was kind of nice. This is one of our better groups as a whole."

This group, he said, was a bit younger than most applicant groups he's seen and, on the whole, was fairly quick through the mile-and-a-half run. The group also included a handful of people who were already certified police officers, he said.

The physical test, Vanatta said, was scored based on the Cooper Institute fitness standards, which provide a set of expectations for physical fitness across various age groups.

"Ten, nine minutes for a mile and a half -- that's excellent," he said. If someone in the 25 to 30 age group can put out 25 to 30 push-ups, they're doing pretty well."

The physical test was performed after applicants passed a written test. Once the two tests were finished, each worth about 20 percent of the final score, applicants were able to schedule meetings with the department's interview board, which comprise the remaining 60 percent of the score.

"We do it whenever our list is up," Vanatta said. "If this list runs out, we might have to do it first of the year again."

Garret Lucas, part of Tuesday's applicant group, said he's currently an officer, and he really enjoys the freedom that the job comes with.

"This is my workplace," he said, pointing to a map of the city.

The job has a lot of possibilities, even if the testing is somewhat strenuous, he said.

"The mile-and-a-half run, that's not fun," he said. "But it has to be done. Can't complain if everyone has to do it."

Another applicant, Foster Alley, said he's a licensed paramedic, but found EMS wasn't for him. And while he's currently employed, he said, it's not a bad idea to show up for any tests that come up.

His interest in law enforcement, he said, is largely rooted in his desire to be a good officer. Particularly after seeing the recent controversies with police, he said, he understands that a bad officer can cause significant problems.

"Police applications, you have to put them in months ahead of time," he said.

It is an extremely time-consuming process.

"A bare minimum," said captain Tim Cook, "would be three months, minimum, to get through this process."

Cook said that the interview board consists of four people, and if the four are in unanimous agreement, an applicant will not be considered further.

Assuming they pass the interviews, an applicant's total score will be the average of their score for all four interviews.

Once recruits have gone through the board, their final score can be calculated, and this determines their spot on a list that the chief of police can hire from. While the applicants will be ranked by score on the list, the final decision on who to hire comes from Bella Vista's chief of police, Ken Farmer.

Once they've finished the interviews and earned a place on the list, he said, an applicant must be selected by the chief to go any further. And then they're in for a background investigation, a psychological and medical evaluation and drug screening.

Farmer said that when the department has an opening, he goes down the list and looks through applications to decide who he'd like to interview.

He said he looks for a stable work history and a personality that will mix nicely with the community.

"We expect our officers to be friendly and professional," Farmer said. "Tough things have to be said and tough things have to be done sometimes. So you look for someone who can maintain that kind of demeanor even when things get stressful."

General News on 10/05/2016