The New London Police Department in Connecticut refused to let Robert Jordan become a police officer because he scored too high on his intelligence test. Whaaaa? Applicants who score above a 27 are considered 'too smart' to be police officers because, in theory, if one can call it that, those who scored too high could get bored with police work. Of course, an argument could also be made that those with high IQ's are more likely to think for themselves, be less susceptible to group-think and make intelligent decisions under pressure. But let's be honest, that criteria hardly seems necessary for someone making life and death decisions. It's like, point and shoot. How hard is that?

Via ABC news: 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.