Council amends civil service rules to adopt state police fitness standards

Clifton Heights Borough Council approved a change to its civil service rules to replace the borough’s existing physical‑fitness test for police applicants with the physical‑fitness standards used by the Pennsylvania Municipal Police Officers' Education and Training Commission.

Solicitor McLaughlin said the change was requested by the Civil Service Commission and the police chief to modernize the borough’s physical testing so applicants who pass the fitness portion can proceed to written and oral testing. The solicitor described the state approach — often called Act 120 certification — as using age‑adjusted standards based on the Cooper Institute methodology rather than a single uniform high‑school‑style test. "This new set of physical standards is based on something called the Cooper Health standards... it breaks down into various age groups," McLaughlin said.

The amendment deletes the borough’s current physical testing language and inserts the state commission’s physical fitness requirements into section 4.8 of the borough’s civil service rules and regulations. Council member Cannon moved the amendment and council member Gorman seconded; the council approved the change by voice vote and the chair declared the motion carried.

The solicitor said the alignment is intended to keep local testing consistent with the standards required to attend and graduate from the state police academy and to complete Act 120 certification. The record does not show any changes to written or oral testing or other qualification steps beyond adopting the state physical‑fitness standard.