Macho fitness tests 'hold women police back'

Julie Spence, Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire, said women were being barred from promotion into teams like the firearms unit and mounted section because they cannot pass outdated assessments of upper body strength.

She called for a fresh job-related selection process which checks a range of skills including mental and tactical ability.

At present, the key test to get into most specialist teams is an endurance "bleep test" – running between two points against time – and a push-pull arm strength test.

Mrs Spence, president of the British Association for Women in Policing, said fitness had too high a priority in the selection procedure.

She said: "If you want a firearms officer, can they shoot straight, are they tactically aware, will the community be put in danger with this individual? Do they have the right mental mindset to actually be using a gun? 'So if you answer all that, you then look at fitness as a developmental tool."

The fitness test to get into the police was adapted four years ago so it was easier for women to pass, but there is no national standard for specialist units. A national review is underway.

Mrs Spence said: "Currently the fitness tests are designed from the male perspective. In fact some of them only have two elements – doing a bleep test and a push and pull test with a machine for upper body strength.

"You will find some absolute whippets who can do everything else but they don't have the upper body strength.

"What you need to have is a compensatory understanding of how fit you are. So it is about putting people on an exercise bike, work out their aerobic ratio, their vascular capacities.

"You don't want to penalise them unless it really is necessary about upper body strength. Otherwise you're making it into a real macho, men-only organisation."

Mrs Spence added: "Fitness is another requirement of the job but it isn't the pass and the fail."

She insisted she did not underestimate the importance of fitness in the police service.

"I actually think we need to raise the standard of fitness in policing. This isn't about going to a couch potato police service."