New York’s paunchiest: Police chief tasks ‘pathetically fat’ to work out

Call them New York’s paunchiest. Apparently, some police at the Community Affairs Division in the New York Police Department are tipping scales at near-300 pounds — and Inspector Ellen Chang is strongly suggesting they hit up the gym equipment.

Ms. Chang, who’s a triathlete, has reportedly tapped the unfit under her watch to pay up to $30 each to buy workout gear for their East 12th Street offices, including a stationary bike, a treadmill, a StairMaster and 350 pounds worth of free weights, the New York Post reported, citing unnamed sources.

“They are mostly all pathetically fat,” the source said, in the news outlet. “They get heavy on the job. … There’s a lot of sitting around and eating Twinkies at your desk.”

Some officers aren’t happy about the diet plan. But Ms. Chang has reportedly said to her overweight troops: “You guys could stand to work out more …. [and] You should really hit a gym,” the source told the New York Post. Meanwhile, she also said to the New York Post: “I’ve done two half-triathlons and run in three marathons here in the city, so I wanted to get the guys and gals here motivated and have some equipment on site for them.”

Approximately 30 officers are assigned to the Community Affairs Division, which is tasked with fielding public relations missions.

At least one officer has already complained about the unfairness factor of paying for the equipment, the New York Post reported.

“It’s not right that we’ve got to pay for something she wants,” the officer said, to the New York Post. “And if you could say, ’No,’ you get told, ’You could use the exercise.’ “

But Ms. Chang denied that she ordered her officers to donate money to buy the equipment, saying she used cash from the department’s “reserve fund” and even “kicked in money from my own pocket,” she said, the New York Post reported.