The World Police and Fire Games (WPFG) is a biennial athletic event open to active and retired law enforcement and fire service personnel throughout the world. The WPFG Federation is an arm of the California Police Athletic Federation (CPAF), an American non-profit organization.
The Games attract approximately 10,000 entrants, fewer than the Summer Olympic Games, and exceeding the third position holder, the Commonwealth Games. In the early 2010s, the United Kingdom hosted all three events consecutively; the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, followed by the 2013 World Police and Fire Games in Belfast, and ending with Glasgow, hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games. The host city of the 2015 World Police and Fire Game was Fairfax County, Virginia, with venues located around the Washington metropolitan area. In 2017, the Games were scheduled to be held in the city of Montreal. However, Montreal backed out of their hosting duties after a labour dispute between the city and its fire department. The Games were rescheduled and successfully held in Los Angeles. In 2019, the host city was Chengdu. The WPFG 2021 were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the host city was Rotterdam. The 2023 Games were hosted in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and the 2025 in Birmingham, Alabama.
History The California Police Olympics were first held in 1967. The concept evolved over the years and led to the creation of the World Police & Fire Games Federation—a non-profit organization, run by the Californian Police Athletics Federation—in 1983. Two years later, in 1985, the first World Police & Fire Games were held in San Jose, California, USA, with nearly 5,000 competitors.History of the World Police & Fire Games. 2011 World Police & Fire Games. Retrieved 2011-09-04.
The largest WPFG games to date was held in New York, New York, USA with over 16,000 athletes in attendance, from 59 nations. The most successful and best organised was in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 2013.BBC News - In pictures: World Police and Fire Games 2013. Bbc.co.uk (2013-08-08). Retrieved 2014-04-12. It was described, by the President of the World Police and Fire Games Federation, Mike Graham, as "the friendliest and best Games ever".BBC News - WPFG 'best and friendliest ever', says president of games. Bbc.co.uk (2013-08-10). Retrieved 2014-04-12. The Montreal Firefighters Association called for a boycott of the 2017 Games, which were held in their own city, in protest against forced changes to collective agreements and pension funds. Labor unions representing over 100,000 firefighters and civil servants joined the boycott.
Games Edition Year City Country Results 1 1985 San Jose, California 2 1987 San Diego, California 3 1989 Vancouver 4 1991 Memphis, Tennessee 5 1993 Colorado Springs 6 1995 Melbourne 7 1997 Calgary 8 1999 Stockholm 9 2001 Indianapolis 10 2003 Barcelona Spain 11 2005 Québec City 12 2007 Adelaide 13 2009 Vancouver 14 2011 New York City 15 2013 Belfast 16 2015 Fairfax County, Virginia 17 2017 Los Angeles 18 2019 Chengdu 19 2022 Rotterdam 20 2023 Winnipeg TBD 21 2025 Birmingham TBD 22 2027 Perth TBD232029AhmedabadTBD
See also World Firefighters Games Military World Games World Police Indoor Soccer Tournament World Police Concert
References
External links WPFG 2015 official website WPFG 2017 official website WPFG 2022 official website California Police Athletic Federation