Valley Police Muscling In on Rigorous Fitness Plan

Sweat rolled down the reddened face of Mike Flynn.

The 50-year-old police sergeant had just completed a two-mile run through the neighborhood near West Valley Division headquarters of the Los Angeles Police Department as part of an unusual physical fitness program at the station.

“I really don’t like to run, and I used to run just sporadically. But with this new fitness program here, I feel better physically and psychologically,” said Flynn. “You feel physically drained after a run like that, but after a shower, you’re invigorated and ready to face a busy day of police work.”

Police officials say they have noticed a rise in morale and personal pride among officers at West Valley since the implementation of the fitness program, which is the only one of its kind in the Police Department. Participation in the program, which may be instituted throughout the department later this year, is voluntary.

Saves City Money

Illness and on-duty injuries have decreased at least 30% since the program began in April, 1983, according to police supervisors. The training, which includes running, weight lifting and aerobics, has saved the city at least $149,000 in sick pay, they said.

“This has definitely had an effect on our officers, in terms of them shaping up and being better able to deal with whatever presents itself in the line of their daily activity,” said West Valley Capt. Abel Armas.

Exercise is not compulsory in the department, but officers are required to undergo a physical evaluation every six months. They are rated on their ability to perform various exercises, such as push-ups, sit-ups, running up and down steps and calisthenics. The ratings range from “strong” to “weak” and officers are advised to maintain fitness on their own time.

Officers at West Valley are allowed to work out three times a week during the 45-minute roll call period that begins their shifts. Roll call, consisting of reports of daily crime activity, departmental advisories and training films, has been condensed to 15 minutes.

The division acquired exercise equipment, dumbbells and barbells for the program, and supervisors and detectives were asked to join in the workouts with the officers.

West Valley officers also can practice self-defense, control holds and baton techniques during their workouts.

“It’s interesting to see police walking down the hall now without something hanging over the front of their belts,” Armas said.

“Our men are in really fine shape. They have to be, because so often they find themselves in a situation where they’re just standing still or sitting in a police car all day, and then suddenly they’re chasing someone.”

Stronger, More Energetic

One officer, Maurice Ballard, said having a regularly scheduled time to run has made him feel stronger, more energetic and better prepared for danger.

“I think if I had been in better shape and worked out more before this program began, I wouldn’t have suffered a broken leg on the job,” said Ballard, a slim 28-year-old who now tries to run four to six miles a day.

Ballard said he was chasing a robbery suspect several years ago when he accidentally stepped in a pothole and broke his leg.

“I did manage to catch the guy,” he said, smiling. “I fell right on him. But if I had worked out before going into the field, I might have just twisted my ankle instead of breaking my leg.”

The idea for the program was born when West Valley Lt. Harvey Eubanks, while evaluating sick-day and injured-on-duty reports, noticed a large number of officers calling in sick with head colds, stomach aches and other minor ailments.

“I went back and started questioning officers individually on reasons why they called in sick on a particular day,” Eubanks said. “I found out that sometimes a lot of them were not as sick as they said they were, but they just didn’t feel like coming to work.

Many Were Out of Shape

“It seemed that many of them were out of shape and just were not taking care of themselves physically to avoid these illnesses,” he said. “There was also a lot of stress which was connected with the job that was affecting the men.”

He said he also accompanied some of the officers on their patrols after hearing numerous reports of officers reacting aggressively toward citizens.

“The officers, probably due to stress and not feeling as well as they could have, seemed to be getting into confrontations that could have been avoided,” Eubanks said. “For instance, if an officer stopped a motorist and the motorist became irate and started confronting the officer, the officer might be more apt to grab his baton rather than trying to talk and reason with the motorist.”

Eubanks decided that more physical activity was needed to counter the growing trend of sickness, irritability and stress. He began developing a fitness program based on his own training and department exercises.

Watch Their Weight

He initiated a “peer pressure” weight watch on his 3 p.m.-to-midnight shift. Officers who gained weight would have to contribute $5 for each pound they gained. The officer who had lost the most weight after about six months would get the money.

“I noticed the morale going up on my watch before long, and there were all these officers on other watches who wanted to transfer to mine,” he said. “They wanted to get in on the fun. We were putting more people in jail and the investigations went faster.”

To determine the effectiveness of the training, Eubanks surveyed 34 officers of the 220-member division force. In the year before the fitness program started, Eubanks said, there were 303 sick days among the officers. A year after the program began, sick days for those officers had been reduced to 197.

Another survey revealed that 215 injured-on-duty days were reported among the 34 officers in the year before the program began, as opposed to 91 such days a year after the training started.

Positive Results

After noticing that the exercise sessions seemed to have positive results, Eubanks made a proposal to Dr. Martin Reiser, director of behavioral science services for the department and chairman of its physical fitness subcommittee.

“The department had been looking for a way to reduce stress disability tension since 1976, when the mayor had a task force looking at stress,” Reiser said. “We’ve had the notion for some time that physical fitness can be part of stress management. The Valley program seemed to be a good way to test one model of how physical fitness can affect police.”

Reiser said the program will be evaluated this year to determine whether it can be included in a wellness and employee assistance program approved by the Police Commission and the City Council.

Although the physical fitness training is voluntary, most officers participate. Eubanks said he tries to vary the exercises to keep the officers interested in working out. One of the workouts includes an aerobics class led by a female employee of a private exercise firm.

“These men have gone through a lot of things, but a lot of them were moaning and groaning around the halls after the aerobics classes,” Eubanks said. “They were really sore.”

‘Couldn’t Keep Up’

Flynn said he was one of the police officers huffing and puffing during the aerobics class. “I have to admit, I had a hard time keeping up with the girl,” he said. “In fact, I couldn’t keep up with her. But it was fun anyway.”

The other four Valley divisions--Devonshire, North Hollywood, Foothill and Van Nuys--do not have an organized workout routine, although they are monitoring the results of West Valley’s program.