Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the New York City area for more than a decade. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here.
NEW YORK (PIX11) --- New York's Finest are going to look a lot like the New York Yankees.
The NYPD will soon implement a no-beard policy as well as other weather-related uniform restrictions, according to the New York Post.
“Uniform changes are coming rather quickly,” NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said in a video obtained by the Post. “No more beards in about a week. No open collars in about a week. We’re going back to weather restrictions on knit caps.”
In 2016, the NYPD relaxed the beard and turban policies for religious reasons to accommodate the number of Sikh cops joining the department. The new policy will also have religious exemptions, according to retired NYPD sergeant Joseph Giacalone.
Giacalone, currently a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said the issue is that the department has gotten away from the uniform.
"They need to get back to that old-school mentality. It's an important part of who you are as an NYPD officer," Giacalone told PIX11 on Sunday. "If you look good and act good the public will respond in kind. If you don't they will respond in the opposite way."
The professor acknowledges there will be some pushback about the rollback but it will be a losing battle.
The NYPD would not comment on the new policy. The Police Benevolent Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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