That makes no sense to me. Somebody too smart to be happy as a street cop could become a detective.
Unless it's an excuse to exclude smarter white applicants so the pool includes more minority applicants.
1. Detective work WAS an option, but one didn't become a detective coming out of the Academy. Detective work came MUCH, MUCH later in a career. All the detectives I saw had gray hair, if they had any hair at all. I would have LOVED to have been a detective. But it was not to be.
2. Minorities and women DID get a hand up. The police departments had mixed feelings about women cops, I think. Women minorities (darn few) had a guarantee of a job. Most women cops didn't last long enough on the force because too many disabled out. I remember having to RUN up and down a gym floor eight times pulling/holding (whatever) a 250-pound weight. I succeeded because I had physically prepared for the ordeal. Wasn't so hard because I DID prepare ahead of time.
I remember that some women were so weak they couldn't shoot and shoot and shoot because their weak little arms got TIRED holding up that big ole gun. Mine didn't--PREPARATION. But my arms DID get fatigued after a while. Whew! My husband and mother were 100% behind me on my quest, albeit a short-lived quest, but were relieved that I didn't get the position.
The main cop (older guy) who was my mentor told me that he thought that, in the end, I would be happier NOT being on the force. I respected his opinion and, thinking about it long and hard, finally had to agree with his opinion.
That was a long time ago. I don't think about it much. Family and husband are gone now but I wonder NOW how my life would have been IF I had become a police officer.