The New Face Of Policing?

New Haven cops have shaved their beards after a month-long campaign to raise cancer awareness. After a taste of hirsute freedom, some in the department are pushing for permission to let their facial hair grow back for good.

In November, New Haven male officers participated in a No-Shave November campaign to raise money for cancer research and awareness.

The contest also took aim at boosting morale for a department that is currently down nearly 100 officers because of retirements and suburban poaching.

At least one member of the department’s top brass supports making beards an option for officers.

On Thursday afternoon officers learned who grew the best beard, who grew the worst and who raised the most money. The judging of beards was handled by the female officers of the department who donated $10 for the privilege of deciding the superlatives.

A newly clean-shaven Assistant Chief Otoniel Reyes Jr. told officers that people had grown some great beards during the month but there could be only one winner for each category.

The winner for the worst beard was … Officer Evan Kelly.

Kelly was good-natured about the razzing from his colleagues. He thanked his partner for encouraging him to grow the beard and telling him throughout the month that he looked pretty good. He said he’d never let his facial hair grow for a month before.

“It was for a great cause,” said the now clean-shaven Kelly. ​“Everybody got something to smile about and we raised some awareness.”

He said he’d be OK with officers having the opportunity to wear a trim beard as long as it was done in a fair way and was maintained in a professional manner. Kelly won a $100 gift certificate to Portofino, which he said would give him a chance to take his girlfriend out for a nice date.

The winner for the best beard went to Officer Raul Pereira, who was not at line-up Thursday afternoon. He also was the recipient of a gift certificate to Portofino.

Assistant Chief Reyes said that part of the reason that No-Shave November was an appealing campaign for the department is that so many officers have been touched by the disease personally.

That was true for Sgt. Ed Dunford, who didn’t grow a beard but did raise $300 of the nearly $5,000 police officers, their families, and friends donated. His father is a recent throat cancer survivor who is now battling liver cancer and undergoing chemotherapy.

“It’s a cause that really means a lot to me,” he said.

Lure For Hispters?

Because of the department’s strict grooming regulations, officers had to be clean-shaven when they arrived at work on Dec.1. But Reyes, who describes himself as a traditionalist on the facial hair question, said that officers had presented themselves so well during the contest that an internal dialogue about changing the regulation on facial hair has begun.

Other departments have tackled the question, too. As part of a settlement to a lawsuit, New York City’s agreed to allow officers to wear beards for religious reasons (as well as turbans instead of police caps). Dallas’s PD, which like New Haven’s has struggled to attract and keep cops, decided late last year to allow officers to maintain a ​“groomed and maintained mustache, goatee or beard.” The new policy specifies that ​“beards must be worn with a mustache. Facial hair must not be longer than a quarter (1/4) inch in length. No portion of the beard may be exceptionally longer than the rest.”

Detroit’s PD came on the beard board in 2016 after the chief concluded facial hair has no impact on performance. Lubbock relented in 2017, Duluth (after its own nonprofit fundraiser) in 2018.

One reader of the Independent’s initial story on the New Haven contest questioned the no-beard policy in a posted comment: ​“Why are beards banned normally? Too hard to differentiate the scruffy looking ones form the good ones? What of those whose religions promote beards?”

Retired Assistant Chief John Velleca argued that beards detract from the neat, professional, uniform look cops need to present on the street.

“I just think they look better” without beards,” Velleca said during a recent debate on WNHH FM’s ​“Dateline New Haven” program, rebutting an argument that police performance on the street matters more than facial hair choices or military-style uniformity. (The discussion begins at the 27:25 point in the above video.) ​“I like the traditional police jersey with the button down and the actual jersey. It shows continuity of what you expect from your police department. When you envision what a police department looks like. I judge a cop when they walk in a room whether their uniform is cleaned, whether it is pressed, whether they’re clean-shaven. Shined shoes. Creases in your shirt. It shows that you [care].

“If somebody’s going to take the time to do all that and present themselves well, chances are they’re going to know how to do their job pretty well too.”

A Hit With Rank & File

The November beards were a hit with New Haven rank and file’s many young officers. They also were a hit with Assistant Chief Racheal Cain, who complimented officers at one of the last line-ups before everyone had to shave. Everyone ​“looked good,” Cain said. She said she’s pulling for officers to be able to wear them on a permanent basis.

Asst. Chief Reyes said he understands that it appeals to many officers in a department that is increasingly skewing younger.

“We’ll see,” he said.