My sons life dream was to be a cop.

[gerry1]

My sons life dream job is to be a cop. He is very physically fit, good kid no problems with pretty good grades. He recently found out that he has a color deficency with his vision. He can tell regular colors apart but has some difficulty with the color test. The test he took has circles with numbers inside made of different shades of color. Would this prevent him from being a police officer?

[ChesCopPodz]

In some departments yes, in others no. Depends on whether or not the particular department gives colorblindness tests.

Both departments I've worked for did a colortest.

[Kimble]

My sons life dream job is to be a cop. He is very physically fit, good kid no problems with pretty good grades. He recently found out that he has a color deficency with his vision. He can tell regular colors apart but has some difficulty with the color test. The test he took has circles with numbers inside made of different shades of color. Would this prevent him from being a police officer?

As a parent myself I understand your position, but at the same time someone being a good person or having good grades in school doesn't undo physical limitations if said limitations are disqualifications. As Citicop said, hiring policies on color deficiency vary, but if it's required by a department your son will need to look for departments that do not require it for employment (or seek another profession that interests him).

[L-1]

Take a look here http://lib.post.ca.gov/Publications/Vision.pdf

While these are California's standards, the logic and principles behind them are fairly universal throughout most of American law enforcement.

As you read through them, they will explain why correct color vision is a necessary part of the job.

Have your son print out these standards, take them to your eye doctor and ask him to honestly tell him if he meets the passing criteria. This will give him an idea as to where he might stand. Again, standards will vary from department to department, but this will give him a ballpark idea.