Author(s): MONTEIRO, L., BATISTA, M., SANTOS, V., PINTO, M., CRISÓSTOMO, J., ABEL, M., Institution: UNIVERSIDADE LUSÓFONA DE HUMANIDADES E TECNOLOGIAS, LISBON, Country: PORTUGAL, Abstract-ID: 2786

INTRODUCTION:
Police activity demands complex and varied intellectual and strategic capabilities, beyond an equally crucial physical dimension, as officers perform a wide diversity of physically demanding actions, such as running, climbing up and down stairs, pulling, pushing, overcoming obstacles, and arresting suspects (1, 2, 3). Several authors argue(4) that the physical dimension gains even greater relevance regarding special police units. For this reason, it is fundamental to have suitable instruments that allow for a rigorous assessment of these professionals' operational competencies. To evaluate the reliability and validity of the Elite Police Occupational Circuit (EPOC), developed to simulate and assess the occupational physical fitness (PF) of the Intervention Corps (IC) officers of the Public Security Police (PSP).
METHODS:
Thirty-one (31) Elite Police Officers participated (34.48 ± 7.87 years old, Height = 1.76 ± 0.05 m, Weight = 80.55 ± 6.42 kg, BMI = 25.89 ± 1.35 kg/m², %BF = 13.59 ± 2.68). Participants performed the EPOC on two occasions, separated by a one-week interval, wearing full personal protective equipment (V-TOP). Heart rate, blood lactate, and rating of perceived exertion data were collected. Additionally, general PF tests (aerobic capacity, strength, power, agility, flexibility, muscular endurance) were performed to analyze the association with circuit performance. Test-retest reliability (ICC), correlations with biomotor abilities, and performance predictors via multiple linear regression were evaluated.
RESULTS:
The EPOC showed good reliability for the total execution time (ICC = 0.821) (5), although with variability in some specific tasks. Strong and significant correlations were found between total EPOC time and variables such as V̇O2max (r = -0.73, p < 0.01), T-Teste (r = 0.70; p <0.01), pull-ups (r = -0.68; p < 0.01), standing broad jump (r = -0.63; p < 0.01), handgrip strength (r = -0.63; p < 0.01), and standing medicine ball throw (r = -0.58; p < 0.01). The variables: standing and seated medicine ball throw, V̇O2max, handgrip strength, maximum bench press velocity, and sit-ups were identified as significant predictors of EPOC performance, explaining 82.2% of the variance in overall performance (R2a = 0.822; p <0.001).
CONCLUSION:
It is concluded that the EPOC is a reliable, valid, and functionally representative test of the demands of CI police activity, being useful in contexts of assessment, monitoring, and training prescription for officers of this subunit.