The Chicago Police Department is offering a $250 bonus to each officer who passes a physical fitness test. City officials and the Department hope the experiment will spur officers to get in shape and help reduce future health care costs.
The fitness test consists of a 1-½ mile run, bench pressing one's body weight, sit-ups, and a test of flexibility. So far, of the department's 13,600 officers, approximately 2,600 have stepped up to take the test and only 2,400 have passed.
Officials report the 1½-mile run as the requirement that separates the "rookies" from the "top guns."
