LPS women’s fitness boot camp aims to add diversity

By Lethbridge Herald on December 7, 2021.

Lina Castro, at right, works out during the first Lethbridge Police Service women’s-only boot camp, while Const. Molly Murray gives direction to another participant at CrossFit Framework. Herald photo by Alejandra Pulido-Guzman

Alejandra Pulido-Guzman – Lethbridge Herald

The Lethbridge Police Service kicked off their first women’s-only boot camp recently to help potential female recruit candidates work on their fitness level.

“I am really excited, this is the first program of its kind that we’ve done like this with LPS, so I’m really hopeful that is going to give a lot of people the tools they need to be successful,” said Const. Molly Murray.

The session is the first in a four-part series, they include a combination of strength training and cardio designed to put participants through their paces and enhance their confidence as they prepare for the Alberta Physical Readiness Evaluation for Police Officers (APREP) test. The test is the provincial standard used to determine the physical suitability of recruit constables, regardless of gender.

“I’ve assisted a couple other females that have been in the process with us and what I found was that it wasn’t a lack of effort, it was a lack of knowledge in terms of passing our APREP,” said Murray.

The women’s-only boot camp initiative is one of several recruiting efforts in the works to try and increase diversity within the service.

“We have a diversity of backgrounds here, someone who works at our dispatch right now, one female who had previously done her schooling at the U of L in addictions counseling and she played hockey there, and she is now applying with us,” said Murray.

They also have some members that have graduated from the Lethbridge College Criminal Justice program.

“I am hoping to become a police officer here in Lethbridge… I am hoping to be able to be fit enough and make sure I can pass all the physical tests that need to be passed,” said Lina Castro, who graduated with honours with distinction from the Criminal Justice program at Lethbridge College earlier this year.

Murray said sometimes people do not have the knowledge they need, they are running and working hard but they are not really seeing the success they need. Therefore, her hope is to help everyone get through it successfully.

“My goal here is to, for the people that have come to attend tonight and for all four of our boot camps, for that matter, I just want to make sure that they have an idea of what style of working out and what type of training they need to do, to be both successful with the APREP, as well as all the physicality of the cadet training,” said Murray.

Follow @APulidoHerald on Twitter

Share this story: