Houston To Spend $150,000 On Defending City Over Police Beards
Posted: Friday, May 9th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
City officials from Houston have voted to put £150,000 towards defending the city over the ban on beards for police officers after some officers filed a lawsuit over the ban. Council members discuss the issue earlier this week, and discussed whether the no-beard policy discriminated against those that cannot shave due to medical reasons or religion.
A lawsuit was filed by four police officers in November over the no-beard regulation. They have accused the city of discrimination, stating that those with pseudofolliculitis barbae, a skin condition that reacts negatively to shaving, cannot shave.
All of the officers had been reassigned to other duties because of their facial hair – two of them had this condition and so were unable to shave without causing health and skin problems. The policy was brought in some fifteen years ago to make officers look conservative and smart according to the report.
After the meeting one council member stated: “…. we’re basically saying we want new police officers, but we don’t want police officers with beards. We are struggling to get police officers on the street. Is it the type of issue that we want to spend resources and money on?”
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