Court OKs Barring High IQs for Cops

well this explains why criminals get away with so much crime.
you have to be simple minded to be a cop, stupid!
how else could the government get away with all that they do?

You people make me laugh my a$$ off. It appears almost everyone of you has a grudge to bear; probably because you got busted for DUI, smoking dope in public, being where you weren't supposed to be or probably were just being a jerk. But you think that's ok because it's your right to be a jerk and bother other people. It is exactly because of people like you that cops have such a dark outlook on humanity. When you deal with nothing but a$$holes day after day it doesn't take much to think the guy with his pants down around his knees, or his baseball cap turned in the war position that he is up to no good. What about the carload of people speeding down the road and when the cop hits the redlights, everybody scrambles to hide the dope or throw the beer out the window? What is he supposed to do? Ignore it? Just because you need a few bucks doesn't give you the right to break into a store or stick a gun in someone's face and demand their tennis shoes. The average DUI takes a cop off the street for 4 hours not to mention the delays for trial that he has to show up for every time so the case doesn't get dismissed.

Most cops are good people who deal with nothing but trauma every day. Yes, they would rather be out catching rapists, murderers and child molestors but stupid people seem to get in their way and make them deal with the idiots instead of doing what they really want to do. I suspect most of the respondents here have managed to waste a cop's time and take him/her away from what he/she really prefers to do.

IQ is not the total evaluation of who is fit to be a police officer. There are a series of psycholical tests, physicial tests and athletic abilities. Being a police officer is 95% bored Shxxtless and 5% scared Shxxtless. It is the 5% that keeps them moving and motivated. A cop who lives long enough to retire is one of the smartest people you will meet. Every cop deals at least once a year with someone who wants to kill them and many try. During the past 10 years, cops average 1 death every 53 hours. Just because someone says they are going to kill you, doesn't mean they are making a joke. There were 152 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty in 2010.

But you go ahead and make your disparaging remarks about cops. Then the next time somebody beats you to a bloody pulp call somebody else. Let the cop do his work

Originally posted by EndGovtCorruption
It has nothing to do with them "getting bored on the job" and everything to do with them being told what the laws are and how to enforce them as apposed to what the laws actually are.

I'd disagree with that The ruling applies only to England. I've known a number of cops who were in the genius range who are perfectly capable of enforcing the laws -- ditto military officers (my brother, my son, and my nephew rank among them all 3 have IQs close to 140.)

The whole concept of "High IQ" meaning you question things more is a faulty assumption anyway. Ever see your average punk kid with a chip on his shoulder who can't stop questioning authority? Most of them aren't high IQ individuals. It's a personality function not an intelligence function. It has to do with if one is more of a "present" minded person rather than a "long term" thinker as well as tendencies toward impulsive behavior and the general attitude one has toward authority figures. This function of personality has been used to show who is more likely to be violent when drunk. It had little to do with intelligence when studied and more to do with if the person tended to think about the consequences of their actions over the long term. IQ tests do not measure that guys. Glad you are all baby geniuses on paper but believe it or not the rest of society doesn't care.

reply to post by bladerunner44

They serve only the municipality in their taxation role. Need proof? how many more speed traps have you seen in the last couple of years and red light cameras, road blocks to catch minor violations, and when was the last time a cop let you go with a warning

In Michigan, north of Detroit, twice driving home from Navy reserve drill, he let me go with a warning after noticing my pea coat draped over the passenger seat. That was about 2002.

reply to post by Nite_wing

But you go ahead and make your disparaging remarks about cops. Then the next time somebody beats you to a bloody pulp call somebody else. Let the cop do his work

I appreciate cops. Most cops are good people. But did you read the news story? They take the low scores over the high scores. What do you think about that? Talking bout management I think.

reply to post by kawika


Well, here's what he had to say about it

IQ is not the total evaluation of who is fit to be a police officer. There are a series of psycholical tests, physicial tests and athletic abilities. Being a police officer is 95% bored Shxxtless and 5% scared Shxxtless. It is the 5% that keeps them moving and motivated. A cop who lives long enough to retire is one of the smartest people you will meet. Every cop deals at least once a year with someone who wants to kill them and many try. During the past 10 years, cops average 1 death every 53 hours. Just because someone says they are going to kill you, doesn't mean they are making a joke. There were 152 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty in 2010.

And he's right. Just because you might score great on one type of IQ test does not mean you can run, shoot a gun, make split second choices, figure out when someone is lying or take being treated like trash on a daily basis. Nor is IQ an accurate way to test one's total intelligence. The problem is many of you really don't know IQ really is, where it came from or what it is really used for. It has some pretty firm limitations.

As for why they wouldn't take people above a certain IQ-Probably don't want to pay em. There is a such thing as being overqualified as someone else mentioned. Happens to me all the time.

reply to post by antonia


The news story says they specifically excluded candidates with high scores. It does not say anything about a composite score. My XYL has made this point that she avoids hiring overqualified people because she thinks they would not stay long. They would quit as soon as a better opportunity comes along. But there is something really wrong with getting courts that say it is ok to take the low scorers over the high scorers. It is unreasonable. Maybe all those other traits are tested and they weed them out during training. But to exclude them, for a high score?

reply to post by kawika


Read my post. There are other qualifications that make a good cop. A psychological profile is also part of the regimen of testing. Read Antonia's post. It is a good one. A good surgeon does not have palsy. Einstein could be short of temper. There has to be a good ability to handle frustration at a punk flipping you off and being able to walk away from it. Patience is a virtue over intelligence in certain professions but you are not going to find many dumb cops. I am sure there were some smart people (a few) in OWS but not one of them had the foresight to see the movement would fail. That is the long term understanding Antonia was speaking about.

reply to post by Nite_wing

There are other qualifications that make a good cop.

And they test for these other things before being accepted? Or during training they weed them out?

The news story says they were excluded, due to high test scores, before being accepted for training, and the court went along with it.

I would expect that cops would have a problem with this.

Never seen a cop walking away from a punk flipping him off...

I have a strong suspicion most of those here decrying the decision would have qualified for the job

reply to post by FSBlueApocalypse

More intelligent people tend to lie more than unintelligent folks.

This does explain the behavoir of many police officers. They are hiring aggressive personality types that can take orders, much like a soldier. This doesn't mean cops are ignorant, but they are just a different personality type...

Well... there goes my dream of being a cop... If I had a dream about being a cop.
Personally, I like knowing I'll be able to outthink the police, especially in this day and age, when cops are becoming increasingly militant and violent. Of course that militancy and violence likely stem from the low IQs, so...

reply to post by FSBlueApocalypse


I read in another article, that if you do REALLY bad on the test, the appoint you a position in Congress



I think its REALLY a bad idea lower a score to meet ANYONE's quota or demand. You get crazy people in jobs requireing SANE people.

Or as my uncle said to me once " You can ride the short bus to school for 12 years BUT don't ever apply to drive it!" I think its a nail on the head case.

I always knew cops were dumb!

As much as I enjoyed that brief article, I was equally shocked that I actually agreed with the ruling's rationale.
Now first of all, if you trust the article for what it is then you know that most officers accepted scored slightly above average IQ (104 over 100). Now, their reasoning is actually pretty sound even if it is de facto discrimination. Police work is not exactly mentally grueling, now come on. A trained monkey could basically due what you average police officer does on any given day. And that training costs tax payers' money. Would you want to pay for the training of some over educated man who wants to play fantasy cop for a few days or whatever?
Basically, yes cop work is dull and monotonous. It is the providence of a certain class of people that I would never want to be associated with at least.

This agenda has been in effect for decades....they have replaced nearly every cop who had the brains to tie his shoelaces, with a hired thug.The direction that is headed is pretty obvious...theyll work well with the blackwater boys when putsch comes to shove....

reply to post by hadriana


I have to agree some of the IQ tests are based on educational things. A person could realistically score 165 in some areas of an IQ test (like analytical) and yet in other areas score lower. So in a sense they are genius to some degree but overall they end up with a 125 IQ. What this says to me is that these police officers are being selected because they are not bright in any given area, and are pretty much middle of the road thinkers. The exact type you want in most military structured organizations. You want them to follow orders, not question the orders.

However, where this leaves the really talented people is jobless. None of these exceptionally gifted thinkers will make it anywhere in our current society in any organization, because they will challenge those superiors to think differently. Something that is uncomfortable for the middle of the road people. These more intelligent people will have to do something great on their own to be recognized. They will not succeed working within a box of expectations set by some average thinker.

Originally posted by Byrd

Originally posted by EndGovtCorruption
It has nothing to do with them "getting bored on the job" and everything to do with them being told what the laws are and how to enforce them as apposed to what the laws actually are.

I'd disagree with that The ruling applies only to England. I've known a number of cops who were in the genius range who are perfectly capable of enforcing the laws -- ditto military officers (my brother, my son, and my nephew rank among them all 3 have IQs close to 140.)

Umm.. New London is in Connecticut, as England doesn't have a 2nd US Circuit(more like Circus) Court of Appeals.

But I think low IQ among police officers is common in the deep New England and Deep South, as well as in large cities.

reply to post by FSBlueApocalypse


Perhaps smarter police officers might also better understand the laws in light of our state and federal constitutions and be less willing to violate suspects rights or use undue force.