Minimum Body Height Requirements for Police Officers - An International Comparison

• NCJ Number: 235563
• Journal: .Siak-Journal for Police Science and Practice, International Edition Volume: 1 Dated: 2011 Pages: 52-61
• Author(s): Sylvia Kirchengast
• Date Published: 2011
• Length: 10 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: Austria

Annotation

This article presents the methodology and findings for a study of the use of defined minimum body-height standards for police officers for all countries of the European Union and some European countries that do not belong to the European Union.

Abstract

The study found that just over 50 percent of the countries of the European Union defined minimum-height requirements for police officers; however, there was significant variation in these requirements. Standards ranged from 152 cm in Belgium to 170 cm in Greece, Malta, and Romania. The majority of countries defined gender-specific minimum height requirements. A few countries, including Germany, had no uniform requirement because each Federal state defined its own height standards. For all countries, the defined cut-off height requirements were not based on any scientific evaluation of the relationship between height and performance of police duties. Data collection for this study was between February and March 2010. The short questionnaire used in the survey was designed specifically for this survey. It contained eight questions about the existence of minimum height requirements for police officers. Detailed information was solicited on gender-specific and ethnicity-specific height requirements for police officers and the reasons for the use of a minimum height requirement. If no minimum height requirement was defined, the questionnaire asked when and why former minimum height requirements had been abolished and what kind of physical tests had replaced the old minimum height standard. The author concludes that the main problem revealed in this survey was the lack of reliable research pertinent to the effects of body height on the daily duties of police. This lack of information leads to the significant variation in minimum height requirements for police officers. 1 table, 5 figures, and 44 references