Beard Liberation Front
2nd April
Contact BLF Organiser Keith Flett
Hands Off Dublin police officers beards say campaigners
The Beard Liberation Front, the informal network of beard wearers, has slammed attempts to interfere with the length and style of Dublin police officers beards.
Irish police officers have only recently been allowed to wear beards and there are requirements not to have them at ZZ Top length. However The Guardian (2.4) has reported that a Dublin police inspector has declared that some officers beards are too ‘patchy’ and decreed that if what he claims is a ‘proper’ beard cant be grownwithin 2 weeks then the facial hair should be shaved.
The campaigners say that a requirement for a police officer to be smart on duty, and not adopt a trademark dishevelled look like Boris Johnson, is entirely prudent. However the length and style of beard within the allowed framework should be up to the individual.
BLF Organiser Keith Flett said, pogonophobia is always lurking in the official mind and the edict of the Dublin police inspector is a case in point. We say let a thousand follicles bloom on the faces of Dublin police officers (where appropriate)
My father told me that when he was in the Navy (30s and 40s) if you wanted to grow a beard you had to ask permission of the Captain. After a while, the Captain inspected it, and if judged insufficient you had to shave it off!