Students mimic the beat in test

UP AND OVER: Joseph Redpath, Wanganui High School student, makes short work of the police fitness test course at Jubilee Stadium yesterday. Looking on is Constable Paul Miller. PHOTO/BEVAN CONLEY 040815WCBRCPOL02

High school students have had a brief experience of life on the beat.

Police fitness testing was held at Jubilee Stadium yesterday and while in town, police teamed up with youth-focused charity Blue Light to extend the testing to students keen to give it a go.

Constable Paul Miller said all police officers were required to do the test every two years. The 400-metre course includes a 200-metre sprint and a range of obstacles including pushing a trailer, pulling a 75kg weight and jumping through windows. The course is designed to mimic situations police face on the frontline. An 18-year-old male is expected to complete the course in 2min 4sec while an 18-year-old female has 2min 34sec, with the limit increasing with age.

Officers who fail are withdrawn from frontline duties until they can be retested. Mr Miller couldn't say how many failed.

Once the officers' tests were out of the way, it was a good opportunity to involve youth and work with Blue Light, with which New Zealand Police had strong ties, Mr Miller said.

"Blue Light is all about building relationships with youth and communities," he said. "We decided to open it up to secondary school students. Some have already got an interest in [the] police but there are certain groups that just want to compete with each other."

Wanganui High School's Joseph Redpath was one of 70 senior students who gave it a go and came in comfortably under two minutes.

"It was pretty tiring," the Year 12 student said. "After the run you really notice doing the weights and the jumping."

The balance beam was the hardest bit.

"You've just come off a run and you need to slow your whole body down," he said. "I was just quite interested to see what their fitness level was like and what they had to do."

The fastest male student was Cullinane College's Tama Manning in 1.38.85, with Collegiate's Annabelle Gourlie the fastest female student in 1.59.24.