BOBBIES on the beat in Surrey are among the fittest in the country, according to the latest fitness test pass rates.
The national results, published by the College of Policing, show that officers in Surrey are among the top ten forces for passing the annual running test.
According to the results, of the 2,204 officers who took part in the annual test, which involves running between two points 15 metres apart at increasing speeds, 2,179 – equivalent to 98.9 per cent – passed.
Officers are required to reach level 5:4 in the run, the equivalent of running for 3 minutes 36 seconds, or 525 metres.
Surrey, which was one of the first forces to bring in the annual testing, had the second highest number of officers in the country who took part in the fitness test – only Kent entered more, with 3,461 officers registering 3,310 passes.
Only Humberside and Northumbria had 100 per cent pass rates.
The figures do show a slight gender gap in pass rates, with 646 of the 668 (96.7 per cent) female officers passing the test and 1,533 of the 1,536 (99.8 per cent) male officers passing.
Suffolk had the worst pass rate with 93 per cent. Liz Eades, head of occupational health at Surrey Police HQ, in Guildford, said all officers were encouraged to keep their fitness levels up during the year.
She said: "It's the officers' responsibility to get themselves to a level of fitness and up to them to take advantage of the facilities we offer. We've got a choice of fitness classes and we offer them help with health and lifestyle management."
The force's health team, which won the overall prize at last year's Occupational Health Awards, run by HR website Personnel Today, has worked hard over the years to change attitudes towards health and fitness in the force.
One of the biggest changes is that there is no longer a bar at force HQ, and the gyms have undergone a major revamp.
Police fitness instructor Karl Warn said the transition had gone as smoothly as could be expected and the officers had been supportive of the annual tests.
He said: "The vast majority of officers support it.
"When we started, there were a few complaints but, since the tests, we've had more officers coming up to us afterwards saying it was the right thing to do."
