Shapiro signs bill relaxing fitness requirements for police academy recruits

Gov. Josh Shapiro has signed a bill seeking to address the shortage of police officers in Pennsylvania, following its passage in the state House and Senate.

Known as House Bill 863, the legislation, authored by State Rep. Dan Williams (D., Chester), reduces physical fitness standards for municipal police academy recruits enrolled in “cities of the first class.” Those cities are defined as having a population of 1 million or more people, and Philadelphia is the only one in Pennsylvania.

Williams’ bill eases the minimum benchmark in a physical fitness test to the 15th percentile, from the 30th percentile, to accept recruits to the academy. That test includes sit-ups, push-ups, a 300-meter run, and a 1.5-mile run, and is scored based on cadets’ age and gender.

To become employed as a police officer, cadets would still need to meet the previous 30th percentile standards. The bill’s changes take effect immediately, and will be in place for five years.

The bill also updates reading comprehension standards that “have made recruitment more difficult and imbalanced statewide,” Williams’ office said in a statement. The legislation says that the commission that oversees Pennsylvania’s police training and certification standards will need to approve two reading comprehension tests, and evaluate other tests submitted by academies in the state.

It also requires another commission to give a report to the General Assembly about how current standards in physical fitness testing, education, and psychological evaluation impact police recruitment and training statewide.

In October, Philadelphia police officials wrote a letter to legislative leaders asking them to alter state law regarding reading and fitness benchmarks. City Council President Darrell L. Clarke, the letter’s lead signatory, said that the city could be short 1,000 officers in the coming years, and that Philadelphia should have more flexibility in its recruitment process, The Inquirer previously reported.

“It’s a reasonable ask, and I think it will markedly increase the ability for us to deal with this,” Clarke said in October.

Since 2020, the Philadelphia Police Department has experienced a significant shortage of officers. It has about 6,500 employees, but has budgeted for 7,400 — and more than 800 officers have been enrolled in the Deferred Retirement Option Plan, intending to retire within four years.

“Vacancies in the local police hurt our communities and put us all at risk,” Williams said in a statement. “This measure will give our local police departments a tool to help solve their vacancies, but is only a piece of the puzzle as we need to do more.”

Shapiro’s administration has undertaken other efforts to help with police recruitment, including removing college credit requirements for people who want to serve as state troopers.