Tag Archives: police

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.

$6.2 Million Settlement for Arrested Protestors

The right to protest

Last week, the City of Chicago agreed to settle with the group of Iraq War protesters who were unjustly arrested in 2003 to the tune of $6.2 million. The Chicago Tribune reports that an appellate court decided last year that the 800 citizens were detained or arrested without warrant. Since then, the city and the protesters have been in arbitration to settle the case outside of the court system. Though the settlement still has to be approved by the city council, it is likely less expensive than continuing to litigate.

The decision marks a stern victory for the First Amendment as well as the Fourth, which protects against unlawful search and seizure. In the wake of the appellate decision, the City of Chicago has changed its tactics against protesters, as seen in the recent Occupy protests. Now, the police apparently give the protesters ample time to leave before they are arrested. The question for the police and the protesters alike is now, “Is that enough to guarantee the first amendment right to assemble?”

$2.5 Million for Family of Crash Victim

Family compensated

According to the New Haven Register, the family of David Servin, a teenager killed in an accident with a police cruiser, have reached a settlement with the city of Milford, Connecticut. The family will receive $2.5 million to drop the wrongful death civil suit brought against the policeman at the helm of the vehicle, Jason Anderson. Servin and a friend, Ashlie Krakoski, both 19 years old, were returning home from a party when they were struck by a police car travelling 94 miles per hour. The now-former policeman was not responding to a call at the time of the accident. Mr. Anderson still faces two criminal charges of second-degree manslaughter.

Although the two teenagers had been drinking that night and autopsies revealed they were above the legal limit to drive, the settlement shows that a civil trial may have been damaging to the city. It’s possible that the policeman would have been found culpable for the deaths regardless of the teenagers’ sobriety. Be careful when on the road, because you never know what’s around the corner.