Whats going on in Jackson, Mississippi?

The Jackson, Mississippi police department has just released a news item, stating one-third of its police applicants, failed their physical agility test. they could not complete the one and a half mile run, because of obesity. Jackson, Mississippi is the nations capital for obese citizens, so this may be the problem. the city of Jackson is considering lowering the physical training requirements, in order to attract more citizens into the police occupation. is this really a good idea? police officers generally gain weight after 5 years on the job. being “out of shape” is a safety hazard for the officer as well as the proper protection for the people of Jackson. Question: is lowering the physical requirements, in Jackson, Mississippi for police applicants, in reality going to hurt the officers, citizens and Jacksons budget because of obese and future medical problems of unfit police officers?