MIAMI: Tubby troopers in the Florida Highway Patrol will have no trouble with weighty wallets.

An officer who tips the scales more than 15 pounds (6.8 kg) above recommended weight will be ineligible for the state’s annual new 500 dollars performance bonus, the force said on Monday.

To Sgt. Jim Rhyne, the 6-foot-4-inch (1.93-metre) FHP union chief who weighs in at 270 pounds (123 kg), a performance bonus based on weight is bad policy.

“I’m not advocating obesity. Our issue is, is job performance affected to the point that they shouldn’t be eligible for the bonus?” said Rhyne, a leader of the International Union of Police Associations Florida chapter.

To the FHP, it is a safety issue rather than a weight issue, department spokesman Capt. David Tripp said.

“When you’ve got to jump out of a patrol car and chase the bad guy and handle the stress ... to do that you’re going to have to get healthy and stay healthy,” he said.

The dispute started with Florida’s cash-strapped legislature, which decided to offer performance bonuses in lieu of plumper paychecks for the 2,000 highway patrol officers.

FHP officials decided to award bonuses to the top 15 per cent to make the bonus meaningful, Tripp said.

If troopers receive a “needs improvement” rating in any category — including appearance — during their annual evaluation, they are not eligible for the bonus.

INCENTIVES TO LOSE WEIGHT: “It’s not a very hard standard to meet,” said Tripp, who is 6 feet and weighs 165 pounds (74.8 kg). “We don’t have any troopers who are so obese they can’t do their jobs.”

Rhyne blamed the state legislature for implementing a policy that awards bonuses instead of pay raises for troopers, whose starting pay is about 30,000 dollars a year. He said overweight officers need positive incentives to lose weight.—Reuters