Intelligence not always an asset
published: Monday | September 1, 2003

THE EDITOR, Sir:

TO EXPOUND on an issue Peter Espeut raised in his article of the August 27, 2003 Gleaner online, it is not unusual for intelligent persons to be disqualified as police officers.

I think that part of the mindset of those responsible for police recruiting is that the too intelligent person or prospective officer, if that person is inclined to be corrupt, would have an easier task of corrupting other officers.

I believe that they (those potential police recruiters) think that corruption, if it exists, among intelligent officers will be that much more difficult to uncover (if at all). No top brass wants to be outsmarted!

If memory serves me right, I read somewhere a while back about a New London, Connec-ticut, police recruit who was disqualified simply because he scored too high on the intelligence test administered to him. For three years he battled with the court, which eventually ruled against him (siding with his disqualification) on the ground that a highly intelligent person does not necessarily make an effective police officer. Go figure!

I am, etc.,

JACQUELINE HINDS

jhinds@stblaw.com

New York

Via Go-Jamaica

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