Milwaukee’s bid to loosen fitness standards for Milwaukee Police Department recruits has failed.
The state’s Law Enforcement Standards Board voted June 2 to decline the city’s request for a one-year waiver of the requirements, said Leon Todd, the executive director of the city’s Fire and Police Commission, in an email.
The first-ever request came as Milwaukee battles strict state mandated recruitment requirements and roughly 25% of all recruits and a staggering percentage of female recruits − 85% in recent classes − fail to pass the physical exam required upon entrance to police academy, according to a Fire and Police Commission report.
In March, the Police and Fire Commission, which oversees police recruitment, asked the state board to change the testing from pass-fail to a point-based system for each part of the fitness testing. That testing includes things like doing 18 push-ups, 24 sit-ups and a 1.5-mile run in 20 minutes, 20 seconds.
If it had been granted, recruits would earn points for how they did on each art of the exam and, if the accumulated score was met, they would pass.
State law requires Milwaukee to expand its police and fire departments annually. The city met those mandates in 2024 by growing by about 10 officers. In 2025, the margin was slim, as the police force grew by only about one sworn officer, according to department data.
By 2034, the department must grow to 1,725 total sworn officers, with 175 of those being detectives, according to state law.
If the city does not grow its force annually or meet that ultimate end goal, it would lose state funding.
In his email, Todd said the standards board is moving forward with hiring a vendor to do a review of the statewide testing requirements, which could lead to recommended changes.
David Clarey is a public safety reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached at dclarey@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee’s bid to loosen police recruit fitness testing fails
Reporting by David Clarey, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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By David Clarey, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
