Georgia Police Academy Physical Requirements: PAT, Vision, Hearing

Georgia’s police academy physical requirements come down to three things: passing a timed obstacle course in 2 minutes and 6 seconds or less, getting a licensed physician to sign an affidavit clearing you for training, and meeting the state’s vision and hearing standards. The Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council (POST) sets these statewide, so they apply whether you’re headed to a metro department academy or a small county sheriff’s office.¹

The Physical Agility Test

The Physical Agility Test (PAT) is the requirement that trips up the most candidates. The course covers 870 feet, roughly 290 yards, in a layout about the size of half a basketball court. It simulates a foot pursuit and tests cardiovascular endurance, agility, and functional strength in a single continuous run.²

You have to finish the entire course in 2:06 or less. The clock starts when you leave the starting line and stops when you cross the finish. Time penalties for botched obstacles get added to your total. There’s no scoring scale, no partial credit. You either beat 2:06 or you don’t.

What’s on the Course, Obstacle by Obstacle

Every obstacle must be completed in sequence. You cannot skip an obstacle and keep going, though on certain elements you can take a two-second penalty rather than attempt the obstacle. That’s a tactical call, because the seconds add up.

Sprint and hurdles. The course opens with a sprint into a series of small hurdles. Your heart rate climbs immediately.
Stair climb. You ascend a flight of stairs, come back down, loop around a cone, then repeat the stairs a second time.³
More hurdles and a low crawl. After the stairs, you clear another set of hurdles and pass under a bar set at two and a half feet. Fail to clear it cleanly and you pick up a two-second penalty.
Window climb. You climb through a standard-sized window opening set four feet off the ground. Upper body strength and coordination, with your legs already burning.
Dummy drag. The final segment: drag a 150-pound dummy 20 feet across the finish line.³

Retesting If You Fail

Failing your first attempt doesn’t end the process. The Georgia Public Safety Training Center allows two total attempts per Basic Law Enforcement Training Course offering, which runs approximately every three months. You get one run per testing date, so a first-date failure means you can retake on the second or third date, and a second-date failure still allows a retest on the third. There is no retest for a first-run failure on the final testing date of the cycle.² Exhaust your attempts and you wait for the next course offering to start over.

The retest structure is more forgiving than many candidates realize, but it rewards preparation over optimism. Most candidates who fail once fail by a wide enough margin that a few extra weeks won’t close the gap.

The Physician’s Affidavit

Before you set foot on the course, a licensed physician has to sign off. Every candidate submits a completed Physician’s Affidavit before entering a Georgia academy. Some older guides call this a “P-2 Medical Examination Report,” but that’s not the correct name. The right document is the Physician’s Affidavit, available through the POST forms and applications page.⁴

The physician evaluates whether you can safely perform specific training activities:

Run at least 75 yards over varied terrain.
Tolerate heat, cold, humidity, and inclement weather.
Climb, crawl, wrestle, jump, lift, and drag heavy objects.
Safely operate a motor vehicle.
Withstand loud, sudden, and sustained noise.
Participate in defensive tactics training requiring normal range of motion in arms, legs, and waist.
Complete the timed agility course within 2:06, including stair climbing, window entry, dummy dragging, and fence crossing.
Tolerate exposure to OC spray and tear gas without life-threatening allergic reactions.

The physician then certifies one of three outcomes: you can perform all essential training functions with no limitations, you cannot perform all functions due to a specific limitation, or a determination cannot be made pending further information.⁵ Make sure the form is signed and dated before your academy start date. An incomplete or unsigned affidavit will hold up your enrollment.

Law enforcement candidates also complete a psychological evaluation by a licensed psychiatrist or psychologist, submitted alongside the certification application.⁶ Some agencies arrange and pay for it; others expect you to handle it yourself, so confirm with your hiring department.

Vision and Hearing Standards

POST Rule 464-3-.02 requires candidates to be free from physical conditions that could affect their duties, and it cross-references Rule 464-3-.14 for law enforcement-specific sensory standards evaluated during the medical exam.¹

The vision standard requires corrected acuity of at least 20/40 in each eye. If you wear glasses or contacts, uncorrected vision must still be at least 20/100. You also need normal color perception, since officers rely on color to read signals, identify vehicles, and distinguish markings.

For hearing, POST has historically required that candidates hear a forced whisper at a distance of five feet without a hearing aid. Candidates who cannot meet this standard may take an audiometer test instead. Individual agencies may set stricter thresholds. The Georgia Department of Public Safety, for instance, requires that state trooper candidates have hearing loss of no greater than 24 decibels averaged across specific frequencies, which is tighter than the general POST minimum.

How To Prepare

The agility course punishes two things: poor cardiovascular conditioning and unfamiliarity with the movements. Running a flat mile under seven minutes doesn’t guarantee you’ll pass, because the constant stopping, climbing, crawling, and dragging drains your stamina in a way steady-state cardio doesn’t build for.

Train with circuit-style workouts that mimic the test’s rhythm. Alternate sprints, box jumps, burpees, and weighted carries without resting between sets. Practice crawling under low bars, climbing through elevated openings, and dragging heavy objects across short distances. The goal is replicating the sensation of performing technical movements while completely gassed.

Practice transitions. Getting up from a crawl, pivoting after stairs, adjusting your grip on the dummy: that’s where seconds disappear. Rehearse moving between positions smoothly.
Train outdoors. The test runs on real terrain, not a gym floor. Running on grass, concrete, or gravel in varying weather builds the stability gym work doesn’t.
Build grip strength. The dummy drag is where many candidates stall. Farmer’s carries, deadlifts, and sled pulls build the grip and posterior chain strength you need to haul 150 pounds without slowing to a crawl.
Simulate the full course. If you can, set up a backyard or park circuit that hits every movement type in sequence. Timed practice runs are the best predictor of test-day performance.

ADA and Age Considerations

Federal law applies to law enforcement hiring. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, physical agility tests like Georgia’s PAT are not classified as medical examinations, so agencies can administer them before making a conditional job offer.⁷ Any requirement that screens out candidates with disabilities must still be job-related and consistent with business necessity.

Agencies can require a limited medical certification confirming you can safely perform the test, but that certification cannot include detailed medical explanations or diagnoses. They can also ask you to sign a liability waiver covering injuries during testing. If you have a known disability that could affect specific job functions, the department may ask you to demonstrate how you would perform that function before extending a conditional offer.⁷

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act separately prohibits discrimination against candidates 40 and older, unless age qualifies as a bona fide occupational qualification for the position.⁸ Georgia’s agility test applies the same 2:06 standard regardless of age, but the physical standards themselves must remain job-related. If you believe a testing requirement is being applied in a discriminatory way, the EEOC handles complaints under both the ADA and the ADEA.

1
Georgia Secretary of State. Georgia Code 464-3 Officer Certification
2
Georgia Public Safety Training Center. Physical Agility Testing Schedule
3
Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council. Physical Ability Test
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Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council. Applicant Personal History Statement
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Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council. Basic Law Enforcement Officer Mandate Examination and Physicians Affidavit
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Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council. Basic Certifications
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ADA.gov. Questions and Answers: The ADA and Hiring Police Officers
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U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967