Public safety officers respond to all sorts of calls for help. In order to keep them prepared, officers with the Department of Public Safety must pass physical fitness tests twice a year.

Warren Franke, associate professor of health and human performance, has studied the physical fitness of troopers, fire marshals, narcotic agents, gaming officials and criminal investigators with the Department of Public Safety for ten years.

“Every year I coordinate their annual assessment by a physician,” Franke said.

Franke describes these assessments as a preventive medicine approach.

“The reality is, they’re at a higher risk of getting injured because of chronic disease than they are by bad guys,” Franke said.

“They’re at more risk for chronic disease putting them in an early grave.”

Heart disease is the biggest concern, Franke said.

Other concerns include diabetes and stress, high blood pressure and hypertension.

“The goal is for us to catch people with heart disease before it becomes a real issue,” Franke said.

Franke said he has worked with 549 state officials this year.

Due to budget cuts, this number is slightly lower than the number he has worked with in past years.

Jerry Stewart, director of DPS, said there is a specific physical fitness policy for sworn public safety officials. He said physical fitness tests are performed semi-annually in the spring and fall for DPS officers.

These state mandated tests are “age and gender adjusted” and are the same physical exams given to the state officials, Stewart said.

The tests, which are conducted at the Lied Recreation Center, include a 1.5 mile run and a maximum number of sit-ups and push-ups, each performed in one minute.

DPS officers are also given a sit-and-reach test that measures flexibility.

While DPS officers must pass these tests with specific figures, ISU DPS officers are rewarded for reaching the 40th, 60th and 80th percentiles of each test.

Stewart said many of these officers achieve fitness goals at the 60th and 80th percentile.

These incentives are more for the officers than the department, with “fitness for life being the ultimate goal,” Stewart said.

Franke said the intent is to keep officers fit so they can live to enjoy a long, healthy retirement.