2015/06/06

HIALEAH — Leo Thalassites has been a police officer for more than 50 years.

He fought in WW2 and the Korean War.

When he came back, he competed in Greco-Roman wrestling.

He began building strength early on, deadlifting 540 pounds while weighing only 170 pounds.

He also became a boxer, making it into the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame.

On numerous occasions, Leo had to take on actual threats to his life.

One time a mugger tried to harm him — he ended up fracturing the mugger’s skull in self-defense.

He sticks to a high protein, high vegetable, zero sugar diet every day after his morning prayer.

Every morning he runs four miles, then lifts weights and works on his punching techniques.

He is now 86-yrs-old.

In his entire career as a police officer, he has never once murdered an innocent person, he has never beaten pregnant women, never shot and killed friendly pet dogs “out of fear” — in fact he has never even had to use his Colt .45 gun.

And he has some strong words for the new breed of cops around today, given that he’s been a cop for over 50 years and has never had to use his .45.

“We did real police work back then,” Leo says, in an interview with the Greek Reporter.

He believes that today’s cops are using tasers and guns too much because they are compensating for the fact that they are out-of-shape and “lazy,” and don’t know how to defend with their fists, much less de-escalate tense situations.

“They have no real strength, run out of breath fast and can’t even run,” he says.

He also thinks that cops with “counterfeit muscles” — cops who have mass but little strength — are part of the problem.

“They come into training with big arms and small waists and think they’re something until I put them in a headlock and they can’t get out,” he says.

Leo believes that physical fitness exams should be mandatory for all officers.

A recent study by the American Journal of Preventative Medicine found that cops are now officially the fattest employees in the entire nation.

Excess body fat is bad for one’s health and can negatively impact one’s mental well being — which is bad in itself, but when you add the fact that one is carrying around a loaded pistol in this condition and is trained to fear people, it starts to be an issue worth serious consideration.

Cops who are out of shape are “the biggest hazard to the public,” Leo is reported as saying by the Greek Reporter.

“They are quick to pull a gun because they can’t use their fists,” he added.

Watch the video below of a large cop who tased a handcuffed girl until she became vegetative and died. Why couldn’t he have simply chased and caught her?

Do you think there should be basic mental and physical health requirements for people who choose to be cops, to which they must submit annually? Why or why not?