This post was created on 05/22/2019.

Who: Middle school criminal justice students

What: Physical Abilities Test (PAT) and obstacle course

When: 7:30 a.m., Thursday, May 16

Where: Cypress Creek Middle/High School, 8701 Old Pasco Road, Wesley Chapel, FL 33544

Why: This is the first criminal justice program in middle school to set up the Florida Department of Law Enforcement course for students. The Physical Abilities Test (PAT) of Florida is consistent with national models and industry standards and is locally validated based on statewide statistics. Components of the test were designed to simulate actual tasks and essential knowledge, skills, and abilities required of the job.

How: Students will utilize the School Resource Officer’s (SRO) police cruiser. Students will begin the PAT seated in a full-size automobile with their seat belt on, their hands on the steering wheel at the ten and two o’clock positions. Each applicant wears a pull-away flag belt around his or her waist, with a flag over each hip. The trunk key is in the vehicle’s closed glove compartment. A handgun and a baton are lying in the vehicle’s closed trunk. Students must then complete all eight tasks listed below in 6:04 minutes or less.

Components are performed in a continuous flow that is time-dependent in order to determine the participant’s level of physical condition and aerobic capacity while simulating the physical aspects of the job. These skills were identified through job task analysis and a review of critical job responsibilities requiring physical proficiency. Five primary tasks that simulate essential functions of an entry-level criminal justice officer were identified and incorporated into the PAT:

1. exiting a vehicle/opening a trunk;
2. running 220 yards;
3. completing an obstacle course;
4. dragging a 150-pound dummy;
5. completing an obstacle course;
6. running 220 yards;
7. dry firing a weapon six times with each hand; and
8. placing items in a trunk/entering a vehicle.

CONTACT: Linda Cobbe, 813-794-2717 (w) or 813-361-8349 (c)

Trevor Roppolo, 813-794-2461 (w) or 727-505-1175 (c)

April Heuss, 727-644-1339