Cops and Robbers

In 1996, a college graduate named Robert Jordan, took the police exam in New London, Connecticut and scored 33 points, which is the equivalent of an IQ of 125. An above-average IQ probably translates into a fine officer, right?  Wrong. Apparently, New London and many other towns and cities will only interview potential officers who score between 20 and 27 . In fact, the national average for officers is between 21 and 22 which translates to an average IQ of 104.

Jordan filed a discrimination suit, which was thrown out of court, because the judge understood the police department’s reasoning to hire only average intelligent officers. It seems that police officers who possess too high an IQ  have proven to become too bored with day-to-day police work and quit after a town or city has spent thousands of dollars in training.  Many stats prove that officers in the average IQ range stay longer on the job and perform better.

Well, don’t be alarmed because recent studies have also suggested that the IQ of most criminals falls eight to 10 points below average which gives the police quite a few brain cells up on the typical criminal.  So, all of you evil geniuses who insist on looking at the camera when you rob the local 7-11, know that there is a cop with more intelligence ready to nail your hide to the wall.

However, this does not take into account the occasional genius criminal or archcriminal – no, not like the Joker or Catwoman, who eluded all of the Gotham City Police Department despite the fact that they wore costumes and their gangs wore matching uniforms which I’m guessing would have stood out in any crowd, but who am I to judge? No, the new archcriminal is the hi-tech, internet criminal or above IQ lawbreaker.  For this master criminal, there are Geek Officers whose only job is to catch a smart criminal.

Does this work?  I guess, but I would think there might be a big conversion rate from good guy, smart cop who has to work 60 hours a week to make $50,000 a year to the bad guy, glamorous thief who works three hours a day to make hundreds of thousands of per year. I think morality can only go so far with that type of temptation especially in today’s economy.  I know good should triumph over evil, but smart might trump everything. And to be honest, since the TV Show “The Big Bang Theory” has made the geek the new sexy male, that glamorous life might seem too irresistible to turn down for the good guy, smart cop.

So, should the law abiding public be worried about the state of intelligence of cops and robbers?  No, because most the law-abiding public also has an average IQ, and I think that their IQ numbers are diving quickly if comments on internet articles and facebook postings serve as proof.  I don’t think the police have to worry about the majority of people catching up to them in intelligence.  But what happens if you do encounter a super smart villain who cannot be foiled by the regular police? Well, then it’s time to call in reinforcements. Does Batman have an iPhone app?

http://law.jrank.org/pages/1363/Intelligence-Crime-Measuring-size-IQ-crime-correlation.html#ixzz1iQbo6bUZ

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/7diVqz/abcnews.go.com/US/court-oks-barring-high-iqs-cops/story%253Fid%253D95836