The semi-annual bench press competition is a Los Angeles Police Department tradition, a contest that pits officer against officer, precinct against precinct.
The intensely competitive event appears to celebrate one of the department's most controversial attributes -- brute force. But Lt. Paul von Lutzow, considered the contest's bench press mastermind, says otherwise. He argues the tournament reflects more nuanced aspects of LAPD culture and a changing department.
"Tactics, it's all tactics," he said, nervously surveying his team Friday at the start of the contest. "You can't win with brute force."
To hear Von Lutzow tell it, the bench-press competition is not a showcase of testosterone, but diversity, not of power but finesse. That's because winning is about hedging your bets across weight, age and gender categories.
"It's balance," von Lutzow said. "We don't have the strongest lifters. We have balance."
On another level, his strategy is an extraction of department ideals, and the weightlifting cops shift easily from talking about bench-press strategy to police work.
LAPD Officer Jane Russom, for example, could have been speaking of either one when she said of her job: "Strength might be what you need, but if you don't have strength, you use your brain. It's a balance."
Von Lutzow is a 33-year veteran of the department and one of the department's most notorious raconteurs. But he is uncharacteristically serious about the bench press. At 56, 5-foot-9 and 178 pounds, he said he lifts more than 300 pounds. His real contribution, however, is to apply a bookmaker's cunning to a sport of raw force.
For 15 straight tournaments, Von Lutzow has shepherded the 77th Street Division of South Los Angeles to victory.
"He's got strategy," said team member Officer Bob Bermudez, 44, 5-foot-8, 220 pounds, who lifts 350. The 77th's secret, like that of good policing, he said, "isn't strength. It's variety of experience. It's prepare for the worst, hope for the best."
The LAPD still puts a high value on physical strength.
Officers are not required to meet fitness standards for work, but "I think we are a lot more fit now," said Officer Frank Preciado of LAPD recruiting.
The most effective incentive -- in evidence at the tournament -- is peer pressure, he said. Officers may not have to do push-ups for their jobs. But sound winded over the radio during a foot pursuit and you'll be ribbed back in the station.
