There has been a spike in applications to take the special police examination this year due to rumors that the Ministry of Examination is intending to increase the difficulty of the physical portion of the test next year.
After reviewing police and firefighter examinations in the US and Canada, the ministry discovered that the two nations required applicants to pass competency-based physical examinations that have equal standards for men and women.
The US and Canadian fitness tests require examinees to go cross many different kinds of barriers, as well as up and down stairs, pulling or pushing heavy objects multiple times, falling prone on the ground and getting back up multiple times, and standing up from a prone position, the ministry said.
For firefighters the bar is set even higher with eight different tests — going up stairs, dragging fire hoses, grabbing equipment, setting up ladders, demolishing obstacles, searching in buildings, rescuing people and breaching openings in ceilings, the ministry said.
“Due to the growing severity of security issues facing police officers and firefighters, we are mulling adjustments to the examination that simulate actual events that could occur in the line of duty,” said a ministry official, who declined to be named.
The proposed changes to the physical examination are to test the speed, endurance and agility of the examinees, the official said.
The special police examination and the normal police examination, with the former taken only by National Police University students, have separate standards for men and women, the official said.
Men must leap more than 1.9m from a standing position and run 1,600m within 494 seconds, while women are required to achieve a 1.3m standing jump and run 800m within 280 seconds.
Academics said that in comparison to foreign standards, the standards are more geared toward gauging the fitness of examinees in terms of health, such as cardiovascular endurance, muscle power and muscle endurance, and that such examinations do not simulate events in the field.
National Taiwan Sports University dean Kao Chun-hsiung (高俊雄) said the standards are a bit on the low side and suggested that the special police examination physical test should be amended.
Standing jumps and running are tests of instantaneous muscle power and cardiovascular performance, both important aspects of being a police officer, Kao said, adding that there should be stricter standards so that police can effectively enforce the law.
Police officers said that, while examinees are asked to run with weights while maintaining the same standards, the basic requirements are “high-school level.”
Students who have passed the normal police examination do not enter the force until they have received four more years of training, while those who have passed the special police examination are considered junior police officers, they said.
The officers said that National Police University graduates also have to pass additional physical training standards, such as men finishing a 3km run within 18 minutes and women within 20 minutes, as well as demonstrating the ability to swim 50m and gaining a black belt in judo and wrestling.
Statistics showed that since the rumor started to circulate, applications to take the special police examination have increased by 2,000 compared with last year.
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