'Jelly bellies' memo costs Florida police chief his job
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Winter Haven, Florida police chief Paul Goward was tired of seeing fat hanging out over the belts of some of his officers. So he posted a memo to encourage the so-called 'jelly bellies' to get in shape. The memo, entitled 'Are You A Jelly Belly?' didn't single anyone out, and, apart from the title, didn't call anyone names. Goward, a former deputy police chief in Wichita, wrote "If you are unfit, do yourself and everyone else a favor. See a professional about a proper diet and a fitness training program, quit smoking, limit alcohol intake...D
Winter Haven, Florida police chief Paul Goward was tired of seeing fat hanging out over the belts of some of his officers. So he posted a memo to encourage the so-called 'jelly bellies' to get in shape.
The memo, entitled 'Are You A Jelly Belly?' didn't single anyone out, and, apart from the title, didn't call anyone names.
Goward, a former deputy police chief in Wichita, wrote "If you are unfit, do yourself and everyone else a favor. See a professional about a proper diet and a fitness training program, quit smoking, limit alcohol intake...Don't mean to offend, this is just straight talk. I owe it to you."
It provided a list of 10 reasons cops should get fit. Goward said that overweight cops poorly represent the profession, are liable to 'poop out' when chasing suspects, and may have to use a higher degree of force.
In the end, Goward resigned from his position as police chief.
Sources & reporting note
Licensed archive reporting by Wikinews contributors. Text: CC BY 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/). Original source date retained. 411 has not independently verified this archive report.
Read the source: Wikinews ↗Source published 2 Nov 2006, 05:30 am IST
