Impact of physical fitness on recruitment and its association to study outcomes of police students

Abstract

Physical abilities can contribute to good health and performance in police officers. An effective selection followed by an efficient study process can be highly important for police students. This research investigated the impact of physical abilities on recruitment of police students and its association with their study outcomes, grade point average (GPA) and the time to graduate (TG). Lower-back isometric force, vertical and horizontal jumping performance, muscular and aerobic endurance and motor educability of 618 male candidates of police studies were collected and eight years later, the GPA and TG were collected of those who graduated. Discriminate analysis investigated the differences between the candidates who were not selected, the candidates who enrolled but did not graduate, and the candidates who graduated. Correlation analysis investigated the association between the measured physical abilities and the study outcomes. Enrolled candidates compared to non-enrolled candidates were significantly better in the discriminative factor consisting of jumping performance, muscular and aerobic endurance and motor educability. The GPA and TG correlated with muscular endurance of abdominal flexors and aerobic endurance. This may suggest that students with better physical abilities have better chances of entering the academy and tend to have higher study outcomes.