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...about the state of affairs....

METRO NEWS BRIEFS: CONNECTICUT; Judge Rules That Police Can Bar High I.Q. Scores
Published: September 9, 1999
A Federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by a man who was barred from the New London police force because he scored too high on an intelligence test.

In a ruling made public on Tuesday, Judge Peter C. Dorsey of the United States District Court in New Haven agreed that the plaintiff, Robert Jordan, was denied an opportunity to interview for a police job because of his high test scores. But he said that that did not mean Mr. Jordan was a victim of discrimination.

Judge Dorsey ruled that Mr. Jordan was not denied equal protection because the city of New London applied the same standard to everyone: anyone who scored too high was rejected.

Mr. Jordan, 48, who has a bachelor's degree in literature and is an officer with the State Department of Corrections, said he was considering an appeal. ''I was eliminated on the basis of my intellectual makeup,'' he said. ''It's the same as discrimination on the basis of gender or religion or race.''

Read the article: METRO NEWS BRIEFS: CONNECTICUT; Judge Rules That Police Can Bar High I.Q. Scores - New York Times

Actually, high IQ doesn't mean squat for your work as a police officer. It doesn't mean anything to a number of jobs, or to how you fit into society. As a matter of fact, most people with a high IQ are useless when dealing with the public, so I can actually understand why they won't have a brainiac like that on the force. This guy has the same bachelor that I took this Christmas, and I would NEVER consider being a cop. However, having a standard for the IQ-level of law-enforcement officers is quite disturbing. What's the lowest score you can have to apply? THAT would have been a good story.

From what I recall, IQ tests are actually highly flawed and questionable anyway...

My mom used to give them to diagnose children and my impression is that the raw number (IQ) doesn't mean anything unless it is interpreted (in light of the big picture). Even with an interpretation it is just a tool. In other words if you test a kid and find x IQ it might cue you in to look for other clues that all help determine where to place the child or what they qualify for.

On the plus side, if the USA introduces a draft there's now a (vague) precedent that intemellectuals are too smart to for 'enforcement'-style positions, thus sparing the need for such creative excuses as an @$$-cyst a la Rush Limbaugh...
On second thought, scratch that. Rush might still need to polish that one off if the age limitations were removed.