| World Police and Fire Games | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Status | Active |
| Genre | Various sporting events |
| Frequency | Biennial |
| Location | Various |
| Inaugurated | 1985 (1985) |
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TheWorld Police and Fire Games (WPFG) is a biennialathletic event open to active and retiredlaw enforcement andfire service personnel throughout the world. The WPFG Federation is an arm of the California Police Athletic Federation (CPAF),[1] an American non-profit organization.
The Games attract approximately 10,000 entrants, fewer than the SummerOlympic Games, and exceeding the third position holder, theCommonwealth Games.[citation needed] In the early 2010s, theUnited Kingdom hosted all three events consecutively; the2012 Summer Olympics inLondon, followed by the 2013 World Police and Fire Games inBelfast, and ending withGlasgow, hosting the 2014Commonwealth Games. The host city of the 2015 World Police and Fire Game wasFairfax County, Virginia, with venues located around theWashington metropolitan area.[2] In 2017, the Games were scheduled to be held in the city ofMontreal. 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 inLos Angeles. In 2019, the host city wasChengdu. The WPFG 2021 were postponed because of theCOVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the host city wasRotterdam. The 2023 Games were hosted inWinnipeg, Manitoba, and the 2025 inBirmingham, Alabama.
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 inSan Jose, California, USA, with nearly 5,000 competitors.[3]
The largest WPFG games to date was held in New York, New York, USA with over 16,000 athletes in attendance, from 59 nations.[4] The most successful and best organised was inBelfast,Northern Ireland in 2013.[5] It was described, by the President of the World Police and Fire Games Federation, Mike Graham, as "the friendliest and best Games ever".[6] 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.[7][8]
