New London Police Department Doesn’t Want Smart Cops

From Survival and Beyond

Well this explains a lot…  From one of my rare forays into the mainstream news, I came across this story from my New England neighbors to the south, about a Connecticut man who was denied a job on the New London police department because he scored too high on an intelligence test!  While the main thrust of the article focuses on the fact that Robert Jordan (the main who was denied the job) sued the town on the basis of discrimination,  nobody pointed out how unsettling it is that a police department would prefer that their officers not be too bright.  You see, intelligent people are capable of critical thought and independent judgement.  Are these traits that are undesirable in an officer of the law?

Also, the city’s defense against the discrimination charge is horribly flawed…  They claimed that their policy was not discriminatory because they  turn down all intelligent applicants.  How does that fly?  If the New London police department decided one day that they will only hire white police officers, could they argue that it’s not discrimination because they treat every black applicant the same?

The city also contends that they instituted the policy because of concerns that a more intelligent officer would get bored with the job.  Now this is just my opinion, but I would think that a stupid person would get bored a lot more quickly.  But we all know that the society we find ourselves in doesn’t value or reward intelligence.  The educational system that we have in place in this country isn’t concerned with producing an intelligent citizenry.  They just want people who are smart enough to file the paperwork, push the buttons and bow to authority, but not smart enough to think for themselves.  Apparently, the police are no exception to that rule.

Hey, I wonder how the cops who currently serve the New London police department feel about this policy, now that they know they were just dumb enough to get a job there?

From ABCNews.com

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.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York upheld a lower court’s decision that the city did not discriminate against Robert Jordan because the same standards were applied to everyone who took the test.

“This kind of puts an official face on discrimination in America against people of a certain class,” Jordan said today from his Waterford home. “I maintain you have no more control over your basic intelligence than your eye color or your gender or anything else.”

He said he does not plan to take any further legal action.

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.

Jordan alleged his rejection from the police force was discrimination. He sued the city, saying his civil rights were violated because he was denied equal protection under the law.

But the U.S. District Court found that New London had “shown a rational basis for the policy.” In a ruling dated Aug. 23, the 2nd Circuit agreed. The court said the policy might be unwise but was a rational way to reduce job turnover.

Jordan has worked as a prison guard since he took the test.

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