Rebuilding the Walls? The Impact of Police Pre-Entry Physical Ability Tests on Female Applicants

No Thumbnail Available
File version
Author(s)
Prenzler, Timothy
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
1996
Size
File type(s)
Location
License
Abstract

In the comedy movie Copl/2 a hard bitten detective played by Burt Reynolds pursues a suspect who is fleeing on foot. The detective follows in a car until the suspect climbs over a high fence and disappears. The overweight and lazy detective clambers out of the car and makes a half-hearted attempt to scale the fence, but his paunch gets in the way. He then gets back in the car and drives straight through the fence and a second fence before cornering the suspect. The sequence provides some light humour, but it also dramatises the serious issue of police recruitment criteria and fitness policies. In caricature, the episode demonstrates the hypocrisy of stringent physical entry requirements which are not maintained following training, but which exclude many applicants who do not fit the traditional police stereotype of male athleticism.

Journal Title

Current Issues in Criminal Justice

Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume

7

Issue

3

Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement
Item Access Status
Note
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject

Criminology

Sociology

Law

Persistent link to this record
Citation
Collections