Police Detective Wins Right to a Beard

A simple shave, or a dance with death?

A Las Vegas policeman has settled a lawsuit with the city for $40,000 and the right to wear a beard on the job.  You read that correctly.  Apparently, some police departments across the country still require policemen to show up to work clean-shaven, except for a moustache if preferred.  Detective Ira Carter was given a medical waiver because of a skin condition called pseudofolliculitis barbae (warning: kind of gross pictures) that made a close shave dangerous and irritating.  According to Wikipedia, the effect of a shave on a person with the condition causes rashes, redness, papules/pustules and sometimes scarring.  In Febraury 2009, though, Carter’s supervisors ignored the waiver, requiring that he show up clean shaven from then on.  When Carter came in the next day with the beard, they threatened discipline, despite the obvious and understandable aversion to shaving.  Carter soon filed suit for discrimination, and today has established a new regulation in the city allowing an officer to wear a beard for medical or religious reasons.

I never thought the keeping of a beard would be such an issue.  Especially in the case of a serious medical condition.  Carter’s doctor apparently recommended that the detective remain unshaven for 6 whole months.  Maybe if Carter had shown his supervisors a simple Google image search for the condition they would have been swayed (though I recommend against performing the search on your own — some of the images are unsettling).  I guess it comes down to the idea of a brand.  When you think of a policeman, you most likely picture a clean-shaven, blue-clad, straight-standing officer with his hands on his hips.  Vary too far away from this, and the public no longer envisions a standard schema, which belays trust.  I’d argue for the cause of beards, though, not only for freedom of personal expression which police are supposed to uphold, but also because I know from experience that beards are fun.

21 thoughts on “Police Detective Wins Right to a Beard”

  4. said

    660394 795460Hi, ich habe Ihre Webseite bei der Suche nach Fernbus Hamburg im Internet gefunden. Schauen Sie doch mal auf meiner Seite vorbei, ich habe dort viele Testberichte zu den aktuellen Windeleimern geschrieben. 684056

  7. Sex Dolls

    513909 714959This Los angeles Weight Loss diet happens to be an low and flexible going on a diet application meant for usually trying to drop the weight as nicely within the have a a lot healthier lifetime. lose weight 871877

  19. Check This Out

    930367 67427Aw, i thought this was quite a good post. In concept I would like to devote writing such as this moreover – spending time and actual effort to produce a great article

Comments are closed.