Why do lawyers train for 7 years to learn the law, but the cops only train for 8 weeks to enforce it?

submitted by magnora7 from (preview.redd.it)

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[–]VantaFount 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

It makes absolutely no sense at all, just like the IQ RESTRICTIONS that some departments place on their candidates.
It's almost as though they don't want people capable of intelligent thought anymore: They just want mindless thugs.

[–]joewest1313 4 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

IQ restrictions as you term there are in place because law enforcement is basically dull and higher intelligence individuals would find it boring and quit. Same as factory workers.. it requires a specific mindset and malleability.

I would rather have dullards writing tickets than high functioning sociopaths as officers.

[–]Chipit 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

They just want mindless thugs.

This is flat-out wrong, but it's emotionally fulfilling. I can see why you like this fallacy.

High IQ people are easily bored by the repetitive nature of police work. It's dull and the same all the time.

If they actually wanted to be police officers, wouldn't they be able to deliberately do poorly on the tests and thus be hired?

[–]danuker 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

You'd have to lie in order to serve society more effectively, huh.

You'd be like a reverse politician, who lies in order to mooch off society!

[–]Chipit 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

It's a legitimate question: if these high intelligence people are being excluded unfairly from serving as police officers, why aren't they using their intelligence to succeed at the objectives that they set?

I think it's just a talking point that people have grabbed onto and bash it to feel good. High intelligence people want no part of police work. It's endless patrol and when you do get a call, you have to deal with the worst of humanity. And then after you do, society shits on you. It's not a job that intellectuals would find stimulating.

[–]danuker 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Maybe it happens. We can not find out if someone purposely gamed their IQ test to get a specific goal.

But I believe your main point is realistic. There is little incentive for high IQ people to put up with boredom AND physical risk, as opposed to just boredom, such as in software development (at least in my experience).

As for salaries, I don't have data.