NYPD issues beard ban with exceptions for religious and health reasons

Rocco Parascandola
New York Daily News

NEW YORK — Hair today is gone tomorrow.

The New York Police Department is banning facial hair and reinstating clean-cut attire just four years after deciding to allow it.

This rule is a recent control The penalty for sloppily dressed officers does not apply to undercover officers or those with religious or medical exemptions.

The new edict is detailed in an internal order dated May 3, titled “Beard Policy,” and applies to all police officers, school safety officers and traffic enforcement officers.

The rules, which are set to take effect on June 17, were issued to “ensure that all uniformed personnel adhere to the department’s high professional standards,” an NYPD spokesman said.

Department store relaxed The city introduced the beard ban in 2020, two years after settling a class-action lawsuit brought by Muslim police officers.

Gordon Graham discusses the importance of professional attire in law enforcement and its impact on public perception and officer safety. In this video, he offers practical advice on maintaining a neat and appropriate appearance, adhering to departmental standards, and what officer attire means in various policing situations.

board member Masood SaidThe Sunni Muslim, who was suspended for refusing to cut his beard to one millimeter from the one-inch maximum length permitted by the police department, argued that the rules on beards were unconstitutional.

of Police Benevolent Association He said Thursday that the difficulty of fairly judging everyone who applies for an exemption for religious or medical reasons “is one of the reasons why we changed our policy to allow beards without an exemption.”

“As the Department of Labor has chosen to revert to its previous approach, the PBA is monitoring to ensure that the process is administered fairly and that the Department of Labor complies with all the terms of the 2018 settlement,” the union added.

Medical exemptions are usually Pseudofolliculitis of the beardIt’s a skin condition that causes beard hairs to curl back and dig into the skin, making shaving painful. In these cases, the hairs can grow to be half an inch long, according to the NYPD.

The same 1/2-inch rule applies to those with religious exemptions, but strict police officers can require beards to grow longer.

The new internal directive also reminds officers and investigators that moustaches and sideburns are still permitted, a standard that has been in place since the police department was founded in 1845. However, ” [or] According to the order, sideburns are not permitted to “hang below the corners of the mouth” or “extend below the bottom of the earlobe.”

Beards and designer beards (those with names, patterns or logos on them) are still prohibited, as are beards.

Best cop Edward CavanHe sports a neatly trimmed beard and is exempt from the new rules because the police commissioner’s position is a civilian one.

The NYPD’s attempt to reinstate stricter uniform and grooming standards has sparked a broader debate about the role of appearances in law enforcement’s credibility.

April 18, 2024, 10:22 PM

Police department leaders have internally complained in recent months that the “Casual Friday” approach was inappropriate for a paramilitary force.

The Daily News reported: April The move to revise the NYPD dress code to ban shorts while on traffic patrol and white turtlenecks and cargo pants for patrol officers, as well as remind officers to wear NYPD baseball caps straight up, not tilted back or to the side.

The internal order, which also includes a ban on shoelaces in any color other than black, was issued following review by a committee led by Inspector Paul Saraceno.

“I believe that no matter what your profession, if you take it seriously, act professionally, dress professionally and present yourself in the same way, you’ll be successful in everything you do,” he said at the time. “If you’re not well-groomed or sloppy, it says a lot about who you are.

“I expect professionalism in all aspects.”