Cop Tangles With Philly Police Over Hair Color

Officer claims captain discriminated against her because of hair color

When one person’s hairdo is another’s hair don’t, it’s usually just a difference in taste--unless you’re a Philadelphia police officer.

For the second time in a year, the Philadelphia Police Department is under fire from its own after a captain sent one of his officers home twice because of her hair color, reports the Inquirer.

She says her hair is red. Her captain thinks it’s purple.

Officer Renee Norman filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Human Relations, stating that Capt. Dennis Wilson ordered her to change her hair color and directed a seargeant to send her home twice to do just that.

"I thought he was joking," she told the Inquirer. "I was like, 'Stop playing me.' "

Under a Philadelphia police directive, an officer cannot have “unnatural” hair colors like purple, green or blue. The African American officer says that red is not a banned hair color and that she’s had the same hair color for the past seven years and she dyes it herself with a commercial label that calls the color “crimson,” reports the Inquirer.

The difference in hair color opinion also led to the captain ordering that the officer’s hair be documented in mug shots that were taken at Police Headquarters, Norman’s attorney, Brian Mildenberg said.

"I just never felt so embarrassed in my life," Norman said.

A white male officer was assigned to desk duty after he showed up to work wearing cornrows. He stayed on desk duty until he agreed to cut his hair. He, too, filed a complaint.
 

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