Policing for good health

Torus Tammer

FOUNTAIN VALLEY -- The Police Department has added a new weapon to its

arsenal, and has been unabashed about sharing it whenever given the

chance.

The new weapon goes by the name of Paul Fetters, 44, who lives in

Huntington Beach with wife and partner Carolyn and their four children.

A former Mr. America, Fetters has been working in the field of fitness

and nutrition for close to two decades. Part of his job now, is to help

city police officers and employees get in shape.

“Having a personal trainer didn’t exist 20 years ago,” Fetters said.

“I’ve always helped people in the gym, and one day, a woman offered to

pay me $40 for an hour of personal training. I did it and she stayed with

me for nine years. It is what I have done professionally since, and it

continues to be amazing every time I see the difference it makes in

someone’s life.”

Fountain Valley Police Chief Elvin Miali said he first heard about

Fetters through some of his own officers who had used him as their

trainer.

“In April of last year, I was looking for a way to lose weight and

heard one of my officers talking about Paul,” Miali said. “So we got in

contact, and my wife and I went in and talked to him about what he does.

It is a lifestyle change not a diet, and it had an exercise program to go

with it.”

Miali went with the new approach to life and shed 23 pounds in five

months. The physical difference was the most obvious trait Miali said,

but more importantly, he noticed an increase in the amount of energy he

was feeling.

“Being more energetic makes you feel better about yourself,” Miali

said. “Your demeanor changes and you feel good about yourself.”

Impressed with his results, Miali decided that this new approach to

health could be applied to many people, namely the police officers in his

department. The chief said the department had been losing a lot of

officers because of injuries on-duty.

“A lot of it was due to things like back problems, so I asked Paul to

come down,” Miali said. “I want my police officers not only to be in good

health now, but to retire in good health as well.”

Fetters’ program is geared toward performance and is designed for each

individual by taking their age, gender, body fat and past eating history

into consideration.

“Some people do it to raise their work performance, some for health

and others for self-esteem, Fetters said.”

Miali was so impressed by the results he continued to see, that he

approached Fountain Valley City Manager Ray Kromer and convinced him to

book Fetters to talk to city employees about what he does.

“The idea was to provide some fitness and nutritional ideas to our

employees,” Kromer said. “We wanted to give them the opportunity to be in

better shape and health.”

Fetters said at the end of the initial six-week program, a client will

know exactly what they need to know about their own body.

“We teach them about themselves and the importance of balancing

nutrition, cardio and muscle conditioning,” Fetters said. “As we get

older, we need to do more work, not less.”