Friday, Nov 09, 2012
Alarmed by the growing number of overweight officers, the metro police chief has ordered his rank and file to slim down so that they can run faster than the criminals that they are supposed to catch.
Tangerang Police chief Sr. Comr. Wahyu Widada said on Thursday that obesity had impaired the mobility of his 1,472 officers, especially when it comes to chasing criminals. He has therefore instructed his officers to exercise four days per week, from Tuesday through Friday.
"I have come up with the idea of intensifying sports programs. Overweight officers are required to take up sports especially designed for them four times a week, and officers with a normal body weight twice a week," Wahyu said as quoted by detik.com.
Over the past few days, the police have been busy registering officers who are excessively overweight, some tipping the scales at 100 kilograms or more.
"Pot-bellied officers can hardly run and can't even expect to catch a fleeing criminal," Wahyu said.
Besides doing rigorous sports, the officers will also be required to improve their lifestyles. Many of them live sedentary lifestyles and do no sports, he said.
"We are hiring trainers for this special programme," he said.
