Policy Scope:

This policy affects Tactical Support Group officers (of all ranks) and applicants for TSG.  

Policy Aims and Objectives:

This fitness test policy details the proactive approach taken by The Tactical Support Group (TSG) within Operational Support Services (OSS) to provide a duty of care toward all staff to ensure that a basic level of fitness is present and maintained relevant to their specific role.

Each element is directly attributable to TSG core duties, which will ensure all officers can perform tasks safely, competently and with minimised risk of personal injury due to fitness capability.  This is not intended to exclude all but the very fittest, quite the opposite: it is to ensure all have the required minimum fitness to perform duties safely and to the required standard.

This in turn ensures a team competence, which provides best ability to provide specialist support to the Force and Districts in line with Force Priorities.

The tests are the minimum standard required for the core TSG role and are not gender specific.

The requirements, risks and threats faced by TSG officers are the same regardless of sex, age, race etc for example the same tactics, shields, batons, prisoners and levels of violence to officers is expected regardless of an officer’s personal factors.

This test identifies a fair minimum standard to protect both individual officers and their colleagues to achieve operational effectiveness. 

Whilst the test is gender neutral, care has been taken to ensure that female applicants are not unfairly disproportionately disadvantaged, or that the tests, whilst equally applied place any unfairly disproportionate effect or impact upon women.

TSG provides many and varied specialist support functions, which require capability and fitness above that of a standard recruit.  This test ensures the required levels are role specific and appropriate.  The specialist duties are summarised as: 

The Tactical Support Group will support Districts and Departments via appropriate utilisation of their specialist skills namely: 

• Level 1 Public Order
• Specialist Street Tactics
• Public Order Tactical Advice (POTAC)
• Public Order Baton Gunners
• Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN)
• Violent Deranged Persons (VDP)
• Police Search Advisor (POLSA)
• Major Crime scene searches
• House to House enquiries
• Offensive searches
• Defensive (security) searches
• Vulnerable Missing from Home (MFH) searches
• Dynamic entries
• Underwater searches
• High Access searches
• Confined Spaces searches
• Specialist ‘Protester’ removal Tactics 

Many of the above skills are core to the role of a TSG officer, whilst others may be only performed by TSG officers but are allocated on a volunteer basis, hence not applicable to test for a generic TSG officer.   

Throughout this document the test is based upon the core generic duties of a TSG officer, not voluntary additional specialist skills. 

This fitness test consists of a gym based test, which combines PSU specific elements to reflect requirements in Code 1 public order protection. All elements will have to be passed for a potential recruit to be considered for TSG. 

For established TSG staff the fitness test must be taken and passed every six months.  

This policy details specific referral procedures to support all officers in attaining and retaining the required fitness level. These Associated Instructions are structured in the following ways: 

• The Test Structure - 3 Phases
• Phase Requirements – Explanation 
• Referral Procedures                         

Associated Procedural Instructions:

This policy is supported by the following procedural instructions: 

Tactical Support Group (TSG) Fitness Test – Procedures D51364

Human Rights/Discretion:

The purpose of providing policy is to give an indication to staff of the expected course of action.  However it is not possible to cater for every possible combination of factors that would justify a departure from stated policy.  The Human Rights Act 1998 requires the proper use of discretion at all times and nothing within this policy and associated procedural instructions prohibits the proper use of discretion in appropriate circumstances. 

Where action is taken that has the potential to interfere with an individual’s Human Rights, the reasons behind the making of the decision to act in that way should be recorded on the appropriate forms, or where this is not practicable, in pocket books or policy logs. 

Freedom of Information Act 2000

Exemptions do not apply to this statement of agreed policy under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.  

Management of Police Information (MoPI)

This policy falls within MoPI:  No

Review Arrangements:

This policy together with its Equality Analysis will be reviewed every year.

Rights of redress for members of the public:

Anyone who feels that a member of staff has behaved incorrectly or unfairly, or who is dissatisfied with organisational matters, service delivery or other operational policing issues, has the right to make a complaint. 

Initial action should be taken in one of the following ways: 

• Complain in writing or in person to the Senior Officer at the appropriate police station or to the Chief Constable of the force concerned.
• Visit a local Citizens' Advice Bureau
• Contact a Solicitor 

Rights of redress for South Yorkshire Police personnel:

South Yorkshire Police personnel who feel they have grounds for concern in relation to the implementation of policies may, as appropriate: 

• Pursue concerns through their line manager.
• Contact a First Contact Advisor.
• Pursue a grievance formally through the South Yorkshire Police Fairness at Work Procedure.
• Seek advice from their staff association or trades union.
• Use procedural instruction D50241 Management of Complaints, in the section entitled Handling Complaints relating to Direction and Control. 

The Act creates a statutory requirement for all Functions and Policies (Including Procedural Instructions) to be analysed for their effect on equality, diversity and human rights, with due regard to the General Duty.