HARRISBURG PATRIOT-NEWS / AP: The Pennsylvania State Police, one of the nation’s largest forces, is faced with ending the physical fitness tests it gives to applicants for state trooper positions or defending in court a practice that the federal government says illegally discriminates against women…
The lawsuit said the use of the tests to screen and select the applicants for the entry-level positions amounted to a pattern of employment discrimination. Much greater percentages of male applicants than female applicants passed the physical fitness tests going back to 2003, it said.
As a result, the state police had failed to hire dozens of women for entry-level trooper positions on an equal basis with men, it said… (more)
I am a bit concerned about this. The tests are designed to determine if the candidate can perform their duties: chasing down a suspect, scaling fences, taking down a suspect or carrying a victim to safety.
I mean no disrespect to anyone, and discrimination is a major issue. But being a police officer can be brutal at times; might someone who cannot pass standardized physical testing find themselves in grave personal danger?