Beards & Tattoos Do Not Define Work Ethic or Skill

There’s a good reason residents of Norfolk, Virginia may have seen an unusual number of unshaven police officers hanging around tattoo parlors on Monday — it was the first day the police department allowed law enforcement officers to sport beards and openly display tattoos.
The “progressive” policy change is part of the Norfolk Police Department’s recruiting and retention plan, which Chief Larry D. Boone says needed to be brought up to 21st Century standards to be effective. “We will no longer allow personal style choices to impede our hiring practices, which sometimes prevents the most qualified candidates from a career in public safety,” Boone says. “I don’t think anyone who calls the police for help cares whether the responding officer has a beard or tattoo.”
The military is also very strict on these standards, and I don’t agree with them either. They put their lives on the line for our country every day… who cares if they have tattoos?
There are other jobs out there, and by other I mean MOST, that it shouldn’t matter what color hair an employee has, or if they have tattoos, or beards, but it still does. But that’s the way some people still think. We need to get past appearances and let well-qualified people do their jobs!