Court OKs Barring High IQ candidates for Police Officer jobs...

[yellowtail3]

I'm not making this up - the cops don't want anyone brighter than the average bulb:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=95836&page=1#.Tv9VzTXO4fV

Apparently.. if your IQ is above average, you won't get an interview. Is this a widespread practice, or just in New York? Seems the reasoning is, the smarter guys will get bored with police work, and move on to something more challenging, or something like that.

Seems the cops could probably use some smart people, as opposed to malleable order-followers and revenoo collectors.

[briarpatch]

Nothing new. Take a look at d.c..   One knuckle dragging monkey has a higher IQ than the whole dept combined. The criminal elite (congress) is safe when they transgress.

[streak]

Yeah !
Get a bunch of "smarties" on the force and they might undcover a lot of underground deals that the higher ups don`t want to be exposed!!

[kevinsmith5]

This issue has been going on awhile, never mind that what lots of the bright ones leave to do is either FBI or law school and become prosecutors.

[Conan The Librarian]

I seem to recall this from other civil service positions, like postman. I'm pretty sure intelligence limits have been in place for at least 40 years. Or at least iq limits, which arent the same as intelligence.


Thankfully this is so because it means that a really street smart guy with a below  normal iq can still be a cop, and probably be good at it.

[magooch]

Wait a minute, how does any agency access your IQ score and where would they get it from?  Do they conduct their own test?  How many of you even know what your IQ is?  The only time I remember an IQ test was very early on in grade school.  There might have been something similar to an IQ test when you are in the process of being drafted, or joining the service, but I doubt if that is valid.

[zookiezoom]

Sounds like a union rule.

[Cuts Crooked]

Wait a minute, how does any agency access your IQ score and where would they get it from?  Do they conduct their own test?  How many of you even know what your IQ is?  The only time I remember an IQ test was very early on in grade school.  There might have been something similar to an IQ test when you are in the process of being drafted, or joining the service, but I doubt if that is valid.

'S called a "civil service exam"! Often part of the application process. I no bekuz I are a Kop!

[spruce]

Hardly a surprise - bureaucrats don't like people who think for themselves.  Administrators are paranoid about any employees who show too much intelligence.  Someday one of them might even have the audacity to ask a supervisor "Why?".
 
Better to not hire them in the first place than have to deal with them questioning stupid rules and laws later on!

[OldSchoolRanger]

I'm not making this up - the cops don't want anyone brighter than the average bulb:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=95836&page=1#.Tv9VzTXO4fV

Apparently.. if your IQ is above average, you won't get an interview. Is this a widespread practice, or just in New York? Seems the reasoning is, the smarter guys will get bored with police work, and move on to something more challenging, or something like that.

Seems the cops could probably use some smart people, as opposed to malleable order-followers and revenoo collectors.

YT - If I read the story correctly, this story doesn't have anything to do with New York, it deals with the New London, CT Police Dept.  The reason I pointed this out is that NY looks for people with higher than average intellects, going so far as to require at least an Associates Degree (2 year college degree or equivalent in college credits) before they will hire you.  They also put out a news release that they have quite a few Ivy League college graduates on their force.  I personally know about one cop that has a business degree from Harvard. 

...Thankfully this is so because it means that a really street smart guy with a below  normal iq can still be a cop, and probably be good at it.

Conan - I personally feel that guys with street smarts usually are better cops, but guys with drive can be good cops even without originally being street smart.  Just my 2 cents.

[zookiezoom]

I deal with college students on a daily basis. Education does not equal IQ..... Trust me on this one.
I don't know about larger departments but I prefer my guys have enough sense to ask why if they think something is wrong. They may see something I dont.

[Sourdough]

Around here the ones on the force arn't that bright either.  But the ones in management are only there because they outrank the others.  Bring in some young man with real intelligence and he would outshine the whole force.  The mayor would snatch him up and put him in charge, therefore by keeping the new guys dumb, the old guys don't have anything to worry about.

I've just been thinking about the stupid cop that arrested the young man who was floating down the knee deep river on an ice sheet last spring.  Dumb Cop.

[BAGTIC]

Similar thing happened to me twice. First time in my early 20's when I applied for the police department. Second time a few years latter when I was applying for work in supermarkets (Safeway, Albertsons, etc). I was repeatedly rejected. When I went to vocational counselor to learn what I was doing wrong in the interview I was told, 'Nothing', The problem was when thay saw my test scores and academic record they rejected me because they thought I would become bored with the work and leave and they didn't want to waste time and money training me.

[OldSchoolRanger]

I deal with college students on a daily basis. Education does not equal IQ..... Trust me on this one.
I don't know about larger departments but I prefer my guys have enough sense to ask why if they think something is wrong. They may see something I dont.

Nothing could be truer!  Case in point our current President Obama!

[kevinsmith5]

Around here the ones on the force arn't that bright either.  But the ones in management are only there because they outrank the others.  Bring in some young man with real intelligence and he would outshine the whole force.  The mayor would snatch him up and put him in charge, therefore by keeping the new guys dumb, the old guys don't have anything to worry about.

I've just been thinking about the stupid cop that arrested the young man who was floating down the knee deep river on an ice sheet last spring.  Dumb Cop.

Now I want to know more about THAT.....?

[OldSchoolRanger]

kevin- I believe Sourdough posted that story in "Round The 'Ole Pot Bellied Stove" quite a while ago.  It had to be in the spring/summer months since SD lives in Alaska.

[Stillkickin]

Could it be that the intelligence factor as quantified on a test score is being used to manipulate quotas for applicant groupings that have nothing to do with intelligence?

[teamnelson]

The test given was not a traditional IQ, but a near equivalent to determine cognitive ability. The guy was in his 30s when he took it. Lots of folks don't realize IQ is a common sense metric, not a test of knowledge. It measures your ability to make correct determinations with limited data, in a timely fashion under the pressure of a clock. Think Sherlock Holmes, not a Harvard Law Professor, and that's IQ. I had to take a full battery of neurological testing including IQ after receiving a TBI from an IED, in my 40s. That's not an easy test for grown ups.

That they'd put a cap on IQ for a LEO job smacks of Kurt Voneguts story, Harrison Bergeron