Police Disability Discrimination (Bad Eye Vs Overweight Cop?)?

Question

I've always been curious about this. I happen to have bad vision in one eye. Even with corrective lenses this eye doesn't meet the minimums for a CDL or to become a cop. Isn't this a form of discrimination, or some kind of selective discrimination? I mean, I see plenty of overweight or out of shape cops, short cops, etc. Who's to say that their "disability" isn't any worse than mine for that job?

Don't say "it's because you can't shoot" because I hunt and can shoot with the best of them. I also don't have trouble parking cars or judging distances. Your mind compensates for that in other ways (paying attention to shadows or moving your head around a little to judge depth, etc.). I just think it's discrimination. What do you think?

Answer 1

Being overweight is not a permanent condition, but your vision is. An overweight cop can lose weight, but apparently nothing you can do will bring your vision to minimum.

Just imagine the liabillity for the police department if they start hiring and arming officers that they knew had vision problems. There is a good reason for the requirement, and it is not discriminatory.

Answer 2

In regards to the bad eye, the issue is liability. If you ever got into a situation as a cop where your vision MAY have contributed to a bad outcome (shot the wrong person, crashed the car, etc) the department would lose any lawsuit because they knowingly hired someone who had one bad eye. Even if your eye really wasn't at fault, any defense/civil attorney would crucify you and the dept.
Overweight cops aren't hired that way. I agree that fat cops are a liability but most departments don't have ongoing physical fitness requirements. The most I've seen is a physical fitness bonus that departments award officers who run a fast mile.

Answer 3

Perhaps your vision isn't as hopeless as you havve been led to believe; try going to other ophthamologists and retinal specialists and see what they say; they can work miracles with lasers today. Also if you can pass their physical I don't see why you should NOT be hired.
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