The Nebraska Court of Appeals has reversed the decision of a Civil Service commission tfire an overweight officer, Christopher D. Parent. Parent, 52, is a 25 year veteran who was fired after questions were raised about his fitness in a combat shooting exercise and his failure to maintain a “high level of physical, mental and emotional conditioning.”
Bellevue Police Lt. Mark Elbert noted that Parent,s 2005 Nebraska driver’s license lists him at 5-foot-9 and 300 pounds. Yet, the Supreme Court noted that the only objective standard in the police standards was that he maintain a “fair” level of conditioning.
Yet, the city says that it has now removed that language and requires the following: “Police Officers are called upon to perform a variety of tasks that require physical endurance and agility. This dictates that officers maintain a high level of physical, mental and emotional conditioning, which can only be acquired through regular exercise, proper diet and utilizing time.”
Parent will now return to his work as a detective.
Studies show roughly 20% of Nebraska citizens are technically obese.
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I love that you’re ridiculing the Ne Court of Appeals as they ruled against me a couple weeks ago in what I thought was a badly written opinion, unpublished of course.
But when you say 1 in 5 of us are obese you prove the Court of Appeals’ point: Officers don’t have to be as fast here because the criminals are a lot more obese and thus slower! He, at 300 lbs., has a “fair” chance at catching 20% or more of us, right?
And we have smart officers too. A few years ago an escapee ran across a golf course and the pursuing officers commandeered a golf cart and cruised behind him ’til he wore himself out.