Abstract

The countermovement vertical jump (VJ) has been used to indirectly measure the lower-body power of law enforcement recruits. Different methods can be adopted to measure the VJ; there is limited research that has published normative data for the VJ measured with a jump-and-reach device as performed by recruits. This study calculated normative percentile rank data for VJ height and peak anaerobic power measured in watts (PAPw) derived from the VJ for law enforcement recruits. Retrospective analysis on 833 recruits (683 men, 150 women) from one agency was conducted. Recruits completed the VJ as part of a battery of fitness assessments prior to their training academy. Jump height was recorded and used to derive percentile rankings for all recruits, men, and women, in the following bands: 90-100, 80-89, 70-79, etc. Jump height was also used to calculate PAPw, and percentile rankings for this variable were derived. All recruits, men, and women, had a mean VJ height of 52.63±11.59, 55.34±10.16, and 40.33±9.54 cm, respectively. For PAPw, the means for all recruits, men, and women, were 4756.07±1088.23, 5072.49±877.87, and 3315.33±732.54 watts, respectively. The data indicated the male recruits tended to perform better than female recruits; 74% of all women were in the bottom three percentile bands for VJ height, and 93% of women were in the bottom three bands for PAPw. Female recruits will likely need specific strength and power training prior to and during academy. The provision of normative VJ data provide recruit benchmarking and could inform fitness program design for staff.

Keywords: First Responder, Lower-Body Power, Normative Data, Peak Anaerobic Power, Police, Tactical