DOJ Says Physical Test For Police Officers Discriminates Against Women.
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DOJ lawsuit: Physical test for police officers discriminates against women
Joel Gehrke
The Corpus Christi, Tex. Police Department has found itself on the business end of a civil rights lawsuit after the Justice Department concluded that a physical ability test used when considering job applications discriminates against women.As a condition for employment, new applicants must pass a physical ability test (PAT) involving: pullups, a 300-meter run, a 1.5 mile run, and sit-ups. Only 19 percent of female applicants passed this test between 2005 and 2009, compared to 63 percent of men, the DOJ complaint records.
The Justice Department says that the test discriminates against women because “use of the PAT in the screening and selection of applicants for entry-level police officer jobs is not job-related, for the entry-level police officer position,” according to the complaint.
“The Justice Department is looking forward to working with the city to resolve this matter in a way that eliminates the use of the unlawful physical ability test and gives women who were screened out of the process an opportunity to become Corpus Christi police officers,” Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, said in a statement on the lawsuit.
“If women had passed the PAT at the same rate as men, approximately 62 additional women would have been available for further consideration for the position of entry-level police officer,” the Justice Department complaint also says.
In 2011, the city police modified the benchmarks for the PAT. Thirty-three percent of women passed the test under the new standards, along with 82 percent of men. DOJ says that these results also indicate discrimination.
Read More: http://washingtonexaminer.com/doj-lawsuit-physical...
Now, she is working as a firefighter here and has helped with several big fires. Personally, if I needed rescuing from a burning building and my choices were her or some 55 year old guy with a spare tire of a belly, I would want the old guy b/c I think I would have a better chance gettig carried out should I need it or if a wall needs to be axed through, I think he would be able to do it at a faster rate.
When you are in a burning building, time is of the essence. I love her like she was my own, and I am proud of her accomplishments but I dont think strengthwise, she is made for rescuing. Perhaps that is taken into consideration though when the chief decides who is spraying the hose compared to who is going in.
Obviously, they police dept changed the requirements for the job and as a result, both the female and the male pass rate went up by about 20%....I dont know how they could possibly think that that is unfair.
The job requirements are such that fitness standards are of critical importance, and could mean a matter of life and death under certain circumstances. How is some 300 pound whale going to chase down a perp on a long foot pursuit?
I remember years ago in the military, had to be late 70's, wherein additional points on testing were going to be awarded to minorities so they had a better chance at promotion.
The DOJ doesn't care about criminality, fairness and equality are where it's focusing now.