Retrospective Analysis Of Aerobic And Anaerobic Capacities In Law Enforcement Cadets

The physically demanding, psychologically stressful, and unpredictable environments that law enforcement officers work in requires a law enforcement professional to have a high level of physical fitness. Therefore, both aerobic (cardiorespiratory endurance) and anaerobic (sprinting ability) capacities are commonly assessed in law enforcement cadets who are undergoing training at an academy. PURPOSE: The primary aim was to investigate the potential effects that completion of a law enforcement training academy had on aerobic and anaerobic capacities in law enforcement cadets throughout an 8-year retrospective period (2015-2023). METHODS: Deidentified entry and exit physical fitness data of 2,888 cadets (age 27 ± 6 years) attending a law enforcement training academy between 2015-2023 were collected. All deidentified hardcopy data was transcribed into a digital spreadsheet in duplicate by two separate groups of researchers. In order to help ensure correct data entry, the two digital spreadsheets were then assessed for any different data entries for the same cadet using the conditional formatting techniques. Due to the data not being normally distributed (Shapiro-Wilk test), a two-way aligned rank transformation test was used to determine if year (2015-2023) and/or test (entry, exit) affected aerobic capacity (2.4-Kilometer Run Time) or anaerobic capacity (300-Meter Sprint Time). Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: 2.4-km run times improved from entry (815 ± 105 sec) to exit (770 ± 96 sec, ES = 0.44) testing in all years except 2018 (p = 0.09). 300-meter sprint times improved from entry (55 ± 6 sec) to exit (52 ± 5 sec, ES = 0.49) testing during all years. CONCLUSION: Completion of a law enforcement training academy resulted in small improvements in aerobic (ES = 0.44) and anaerobic (ES = 0.49) capacities in law enforcement cadets. Due to the diverse training cadets are required to undergo during a law enforcement training academy, the results of the present study underscore the importance that law enforcement cadets attend the training academy with a high level of aerobic and anaerobic capacities.