The World Police and Fire Games (WPFG) are an Olympic-style competition with thousands of athletes representing first responders from different countries across the world. This includes law enforcement, firefighters, and officers from corrections, probation, border protection, immigration and customs. The Games are held biennially and typically have 60+ sports in the Official Games program.
The Games are governed by the California Police Athletic Federation (CPAF), the Host City, and the WPFG Board of Directors.
History of The Games
The first World Police & Fire Games were held in 1985 in San Jose, California. The World Police and Fire Games aim to offer the same variety of sports, and the same high caliber of venues, officials, and athletic achievement as the original California Police Games, but on a global scale. Since then, WPFG has been hosted several times in the United States and different countries including, Australia, Canada, China, Northern Ireland, Spain, and Sweden.
The size and scope of the World Police & Fire Games continue to grow. Attendance has steadily increased as have the number of countries involved. While attendance averages about 9,000, the 2011 WPFG in New York holds the current attendance record with over 16,000 athletes competing in 67 sports from almost 70 countries. More than 10,000 competitors competed in the Chengdu, China Games in 2019. With family and traveling companions, the number in overall attendance topped 25,000.