We’ve seen our fair share of portly policemen over the years, so were were a bit surprised to learn of Chris Parent’s strange saga. The Nebraskan cop was fired two years ago for being way too fat—so fat, in fact, that he couldn’t kneel down and shoot during the department’s firearms test. A protracted legal battle has Parent back on the force, but it looks like his chief is none too happy with the situation.
All of which raises the question: Can you really be too obese to police? We tend to think so, and believe that Parent would have been canned long ago had he served in a more demanding locale. We just don’t see him chasing too many perps in the mean streets of Bellevue. But perhaps we just need to work on our avoirdupois acceptance.
scottstev // Jul 29, 2009 at 1:43 pm
From what I gathered in the linked stories, there didn’t seem to be a height/weight requirement in the contract, and the fitness requirements were vague. But the video of the fitness test were quite disturbing. He is clearly not fit for a vigorous job.
Brendan I. Koerner // Jul 29, 2009 at 2:08 pm
@scottstev: Yeah, I definitely encourage everyone to watch the video in the second link. Especially the footage that begins around the 1:10 mark, which depicts Parent struggling to rise to his feet.
I, for one, wouldn’t want this guy as my partner.