Minimum Height?
- Thread starter gothic
- Start date
This happened outside my house a few months ago, this armed officer here was a small maybe 5'3 woman, she did all the shouting, she had about 4 very tall man with her, the man they arrested dropped to his knees when she shouted and was as good as gold!
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Marianna
Dedicated Member
To expand on Roger's comment, how about a minimum age? The female officer and the male to her left both look about 12 years old! Or am I showing my age (80 years old)?
I once contemplated a career in the police, in the 90's you had to be 5'4' or 5'8' minimum for male & female respectively from memory I think was an age cap of around 30ish. However that's all gone now and they don't seem to be anywhere as near selective as they used to be.
Bora Natty
Dedicated Member
Early on before I became a barber, I did three years with the Baltimore City Police, There was a minimum height of 5'10". I doubt any place has requirements of any kind these days, as that would be discrimination. They have people on the force now, because of it, that wouldn't have been hired to clean the loos when I was there in the early 80's..
Bora Natty
Dedicated Member
Uh oh, dare I ask what that means Graham? Lol!
My son in law is 5'6 he's been in the police for nearly 20 years but I remember when we were kids my brother wanted to join but my dad told him he seriously doubted he'd be tall enough as we're from a family of short behind.
Bora Natty
Dedicated Member
I'll have to listen for that, Graham. Is it slang for something, or just a saying?
A butter patter was an actual job, butter came in huge blobs and had to shaped into a sell able shape and size so a butter patter would use two wooden paddles to patter it then wrap it up in greaseproof paper to sell.
Brian Johns
Dedicated Member
Back in the '70s when I joined the "thin blue line" her in oz, not only was there a height restriction which from memory was something like 5'8 to 5'10 (cannot remember exactly) but there was also a "chest expansion" restriction. Your chest was measured after you had EXhaled and taken again after you took in a great lungful of air (a bit like Alvin preparing for high altitude flight!) and the difference between the 2 measurements had to be above a certain amount. (I cannot remember how much).
Female officers at that time had only "just" joined as "full" officers. Before that they were really only basically social workers to a certain degree. (NOTE: NOT denigrating them, that was actually their role at the time. My academy was I believe only the 2nd to have female officers actually in uniform!) They had different physical requirements to men but I cannot remember what they were, but I think they also had a minimum height requirement. As for chest measurements...NOT GOING THERE!!
Sometime later the height restrictions and a lot of other physical restrictions were removed (progress?????????).
I can remember that at least 1 female officer I knew was so short that the standard "Long baton" that was issued had to be shortened for her as it dragged on the ground when she walked! Also because of their size, the standard issue "utility belt" could not accommodate the basic equipment required, and that was BEFORE we got all the new toys like pepper spray, tasers etc!.
Female officers at that time had only "just" joined as "full" officers. Before that they were really only basically social workers to a certain degree. (NOTE: NOT denigrating them, that was actually their role at the time. My academy was I believe only the 2nd to have female officers actually in uniform!) They had different physical requirements to men but I cannot remember what they were, but I think they also had a minimum height requirement. As for chest measurements...NOT GOING THERE!!
Sometime later the height restrictions and a lot of other physical restrictions were removed (progress?????????).
I can remember that at least 1 female officer I knew was so short that the standard "Long baton" that was issued had to be shortened for her as it dragged on the ground when she walked! Also because of their size, the standard issue "utility belt" could not accommodate the basic equipment required, and that was BEFORE we got all the new toys like pepper spray, tasers etc!.
Bora Natty
Dedicated Member
Thanks Pearl, that cleared it up nicely. Brian, we had to go through quite a lot physically to be accepted into the academy. At the time it was pretty much para military style training. Our long batons were referred to as riot sticks, they were a yard long and lead lined. I carried a PR-24. I loved what you could do with it as far as take downs, etc. When I started they were phasing out .38's, which was good, I've seen .38 slugs ricochet off windshields. I carried a 9mm Glock, much more bang and easier to drop a clip and add another if needed..
Brian Johns
Dedicated Member
Just for Bora!
Physical fitness was also a big consideration when I joined. At THAT time here in Oz we were not routinely armed. Our basic "fighting kit" so to speak consisted of a short baton (about a foot or so long...more of a truncheon!) and handcuffs That was it! If you walked the beat you were lucky to get ONE pretty rubbish radio between 2. We DID have firearms available but they were far and few between and pretty lousy......5 shot STANDARD 38! But even the biggest station in our capital city probably only had about 4 or 5 of them and it was almost impossible to sign one out and even then woe betide you if a member of the public actually saw an officer with a gun! (Remember DIFFERENT culture to U.S.)
We did eventually switch to 38specials in the early 80's after an officer was killed and his partner wounded in a country town and the 38Standard projectiles did basically nothing to the bad guy! They still were NOT standard issue.
About the mid '80s we got the long baton issued. We just called it the water pipe. Just a long spun aluminium hollow tube, probably about 2.5+feet long, I really didn't pay much attention. We WANTED the PR-24 but they were classified as OFFENSIVE weapons and police were supposed to be DEFENSIVE. It was funny how at the first training sessions with the new batons several guys had to go to hospital with broken ribs or arms! LMAO.
We got HELLWEG belts issued in the late '80's and they came with holsters and we were basically routinely armed (38sp revolver)from then on, but NO PESONAL ISSUE, we had to sign them out and in every shift (and I believe STILL do except for specialists). No personal firearms were/are permitted (Again...different culture to U.S.)
We finally switched to 40cal Glocks sometime in the '90's
Between the '90s and the 2000s we also acquired pepper spray, ASP batons and tasers. NOTE: NO VESTS!
Stab vest became a thing after I retired.
If you read the literature we were/are highly trained and kept current in the use of all the equipment.........................That is HYSTERICAL! ROTFLMAO.
I have noted that standards have been basically forgotten in recent times. The rot started well before I retired and has accelerated and got worse over the years. This is of course personal opinion but I am not alone in believing this and have PLENTY of examples to back it up.
Physical fitness was also a big consideration when I joined. At THAT time here in Oz we were not routinely armed. Our basic "fighting kit" so to speak consisted of a short baton (about a foot or so long...more of a truncheon!) and handcuffs That was it! If you walked the beat you were lucky to get ONE pretty rubbish radio between 2. We DID have firearms available but they were far and few between and pretty lousy......5 shot STANDARD 38! But even the biggest station in our capital city probably only had about 4 or 5 of them and it was almost impossible to sign one out and even then woe betide you if a member of the public actually saw an officer with a gun! (Remember DIFFERENT culture to U.S.)
We did eventually switch to 38specials in the early 80's after an officer was killed and his partner wounded in a country town and the 38Standard projectiles did basically nothing to the bad guy! They still were NOT standard issue.
About the mid '80s we got the long baton issued. We just called it the water pipe. Just a long spun aluminium hollow tube, probably about 2.5+feet long, I really didn't pay much attention. We WANTED the PR-24 but they were classified as OFFENSIVE weapons and police were supposed to be DEFENSIVE. It was funny how at the first training sessions with the new batons several guys had to go to hospital with broken ribs or arms! LMAO.
We got HELLWEG belts issued in the late '80's and they came with holsters and we were basically routinely armed (38sp revolver)from then on, but NO PESONAL ISSUE, we had to sign them out and in every shift (and I believe STILL do except for specialists). No personal firearms were/are permitted (Again...different culture to U.S.)
We finally switched to 40cal Glocks sometime in the '90's
Between the '90s and the 2000s we also acquired pepper spray, ASP batons and tasers. NOTE: NO VESTS!
Stab vest became a thing after I retired.
If you read the literature we were/are highly trained and kept current in the use of all the equipment.........................That is HYSTERICAL! ROTFLMAO.
I have noted that standards have been basically forgotten in recent times. The rot started well before I retired and has accelerated and got worse over the years. This is of course personal opinion but I am not alone in believing this and have PLENTY of examples to back it up.