Age Just a Number? In This Case, a Roadblock

Late in 1985, a Police Officer taking an “end-of-probation medical” required of cops at the time they were completing 18 months of service and becoming eligible for tenure weighed in at 267 pounds, 35 more than was permitted under an NYPD standard that tied weight to height.

The cop, John Englert, argued that he had put on weight to bulk up for the side job of playing linebacker on the football team of what was then the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association. He sued, but also had the good sense to drop 31 pounds over the next few months, paving the way for a settlement of the lawsuit in February 1986 that led to his being reinstated by then-Police Commissioner Ben Ward. That deal was contingent on Mr. Englert’s probationary period being extended another six months, during which NYPD doctors would monitor his weight. (The probation period for new cops today is two years, and one younger cop said April 30 that those awaiting tenure are no longer weighed, with the medical now focusing primarily on drug-testing.)