Moment four female Chicago police officers spend three minutes trying to arrest ‘shoplifter’ who easily escaped…as commenters’ claim the women’s WEIGHT stopped them performing their duties
- Video shows four Chicago police officers’ attempted arrest of one man
- Despite being outnumbered, the suspect manages to flee the scene
- Commenters on social media are questioning police fitness standards
A video posted to social media of four female Chicago police officers trying to arrest a suspected shoplifter has sparked backlash over the department’s health and fitness standards.
Footage shows the attempted arrest at 95th Street and Ashland Avenue, where four female officers outnumbered one male suspect.
Chicago police officers approached the suspect and he emptied his pockets as they began detaining him.
As officers attempted to place a pair of handcuffs on the man, he repeatedly broke free from their clutches.
The four officers pressed the suspect against a wall, but still failed to handcuff him. Audio from the police scanner revealed that one of the officers reportedly called for backup during the incident. She sounded out of breath.
Video shows the moment four female police officers attempted to arrest a male suspect
Despite being outnumbered, the suspect managed to break free and run from the officers
Despite being outnumbered, the suspect managed to break free from the officers and ran away.
Out of breath, you hear an officer describing the situation on police radio while the suspect runs away, ‘he’s running away.’
As the suspect fled, a truck drove into the intersection and blocked the surveillance camera.
Additional audio of the attempted arrest showed that a dispatcher told officers to let the suspect go.
“If we can’t restrain him and it’s shoplifting, let him go,” a dispatcher said.
The video sparked outrage online, with commentators questioning whether the officers’ physical capabilities limited their ability to arrest the man.
“This is what happens when you abolish health and fitness standards and implement quotas,” said a Twitter user named Joe.
“They can’t do the work. This is a fitness problem,” Frank said.
Eve said: “Do they even have health and fitness standards anymore? This was painful to watch.’
According to the Chicago Police Department website, during the interview process, candidates take a Police Officer Welfare Evaluation Report Testincluding a sit-and-reach test, a one-minute sit-up test, one repetition of the maximum bench press, and a timed mile-and-a-half run.
Data for the week ending November 23 shows that overall crime in the city is up 20 percent year to date, according to the Chicago Police Department.
Thefts in the city are up 24 percent this year, thefts up 4 percent and motor vehicle thefts up 50 percent.
Residents have begged the city’s recently elected mayor, Brandon Johnson, to do more to curb rising crime.
Earlier in November, a pregnant woman shared her fears that she had suffered a miscarriage after being carjacked at gunpoint in the Dem-run city.