Court OKs Barring High IQs for Cops

[dixiegrrrrl]

This explains a WHOLE lot.....

A man whose bid to become a police officer was rejected after he scored too high on an intelligence test has lost an appeal in his federal lawsuit against the city.

Jordan, a 49-year-old college graduate, took the exam in 1996 and scored 33 points, the equivalent of an IQ of 125. But New London police interviewed only candidates who scored 20 to 27, on the theory that those who scored too high could get bored with police work and leave soon after undergoing costly training.

Most Cops Just Above Normal
The average score nationally for police officers is 21 to 22, the equivalent of an IQ of 104, or just a little above average.

Oh...and the kicker?
"Jordan has worked as a prison guard since he took the test."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/court-oks-barring-high-iqs-cops/story?id=95836#.UYKZdByYNyA

[Rex]

1. Would get bored? Or find too much internal crime?

So all those CSI shows where the cops have a 910 IQ and PHd in computer science are just...acting!?!?! Say it ain't so!!!

[geek tragedy]

2. So, police detectives aren't supposed to be smart?

I guess the people who came up with this policy would qualify under it'

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. Actually, I suspect it has to do with ability to follow orders instead of think of a better way

to do something.
does explain a lot, tho, yes?

[geek tragedy]

6. The military doesn't screen people out because they're too smart.

They--shockingly enough--try to find a way to take advantage of the person's intelligence.

[octothorpe]

15. Back when I was going to join the AF, they got all giddy when I scored very well on the ASVAB

I'd think the police force would have a similar feeling toward people who show some sort of intelligence.

[loli phabay]

17. i dont know about this dept. but forget intelligence most important thing is common sense

You have to be able to deal with every situation and person in totally different circumstances, no two interactions are the same and having the common sense to deal appropriately with each is a godsend. Unfortunately a lot of big depts don't go in for that and it shows. In the end it comes down to leadership and though a lot of people poopah local sheriffs and small town chiefs a good leader here can make a hell of a difference. Overall like the military i would rather have the guy with common sense behind me clearing a house than the guy with off the scale intelligence.

[Cirque du So-What]

4. I have an acquaintance

who works for a mid-sized city in the section that administers civil service exams. She told me that the PD always selects officer candidates from the middle of the pack. They don't want total idiots, but they also don't want people who are capable of critical thought. Can't have too much thinkin' goin' on, yunno.

[Xipe Totec]

5. It isn't easy being a cop...

Unfortunately, you have to fast forward 27 minutes to get to the point....

It's worth it, though...

[appleannie1]

7. I was not hired for a civil service job because I scored too high on the civil service test. I scor

the equivalent of E4 and the position I was trying to get hired in at E2 and you had to work your way up to E4. So I got a job as a police and fire dispatcher instead.

[Laelth]

8. Very interesting ... for multiple reasons. n/t

-Laelth


Edit: Laelth--spelling.

[AngryAmish]

9. It also screws up the demographics if you only take the high IQs

Selecting only for high IQs is illegal.

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. Indeed..which is his argument..

If selecting only high IQs is illegal, so should be selecting for only "low" IQs ( IQs below a certain level).

Meanwhile, the criminals with IQs over 125 are being chased by less intelligent cops, so to speak.

[AngryAmish]

14. Selecting only for high IQs is racially discriminatory

Since African Americans average 85 IQs and white Americans average 100, selecting only for high IQs create a disparate impact against African Americans.

Being above average intelligence in and of itself is not a protected class. Being an African-American is a protected class.

[sibelian]

16. What the FUCK?

"Being an African-American is a protected class."

[antigone382]

23. "Protected class" means that African-Americans are covered under anti-discrimination laws.

Gender, race, age, religion, national origin (I believe) etc. are all protected classes under federal anti-discrimination law. Sexual Orientation, regional origin (think Appalachians--who have suffered discrimination in places like Cincinatti, to the extent that the city now has its own anti-discrimination laws to protect them), being in college...these are not protected by federal law.

As far as whatever IQ disparity may exist between blacks and whites (and I do not now that it is as high as the two percentages given by AngryAmish indicates), the reality is that IQ is not and was never intended to be an authoritative measure of intelligence. It is limited by cultural understandings of what constitutes intelligence and it does not identify causal factors relating to disparities in class and education. As Stephen Jay Gould explains in The Mismeasure of Man, the IQ test was originally intended as a very rough empirical measure to identify students who might need additional help in the French school system. It has taken on a cultural meaning entirely apart from its actual purpose and capacity.

[byeya]

10. It's not really known what IQ measures. The late Stephen Gould was eloquent on this.

I don't think an IQ test should be part of the hiring process.

[AngryAmish]

12. He was eloquent and wrong

The field has progressed pretty far in the 32 years since The Mismeasure of Man came out. THe scientific consensus in the field is the g exists and it is measurable.

[byeya]

28. I doubt that there is an immutable thing as Intelligence Quotient and if IQ can be raised or

lowered what good does a test do? None that I can see. A record of other jobs and schooling is better than trying to fit people into a one-size-fits-all hole.
Would be willing to be dissuaded though.

[octothorpe]

13. You have to be shitting me...

Wouldn't that actually mean they'd be more likely to be good cops and move up to higher positions. Perhaps detective or even something else related to law enforcement? Perhaps forensics?

[loli phabay]

18. being a good cop takes more than intelligence, it takes courage, integrity and common sense

Something that seems to be lacking in a lot of people who apply and get accepted, having worked in a big dept and a small, in the small these people get weeded out fairly quickly due to having to work in a small pond and their peers seeing them work.

[octothorpe]

22. I'm sure that's the case, but having high intelligence doesn't mean they lack those traits

which is what the ridiculous rule they have implies. If a smart person doesn't have the required attributes, then get rid of them based on those reasons.

[loli phabay]

24. oh i agree, intelligence helps along with other stuff, thats why i find this wierd

I wonder if its a simple case of fearing the person would move on after getting training etc.

[octothorpe]

26. I was thinking that maybe they want people to be there for life...

They figure people with higher intelligence will have more of a desire and ability to further their education, and as a result move on "cooler" jobs. Maybe working for the federal government or something like that. If I was in law enforcement, I think my ultimate goal would to be an agent for something like the FBI.

[loli phabay]

27. i would think thats probably the case, though some go the other way like myself

It takes a lot of time and money to train a veteran cop and depts hate to expend time and money to have them walk away.

[kudzu22]

19. There go my dreams of being a New London cop...

Not looking for the next Sherlock Holmes, are they?

[Blue_Tires]

20. Sounds like that old "unofficial" HR rule:

"We can't hire that young married woman because after hiring and training her she'll only get pregnant, and we'll have to hire another temp while she takes months of maternity leave on our health insurance plan!!"

[hobbit709]

21. Why do I think of the Freak brothers comic

Where Phineas invents a new drug. C.O.P. What's it do-it makes your hair fall out, your gut swell up and lowers your IQ by 50%.

[loli phabay]

25. lol, i showed my misses this and she just went yup.