NYPD brass may need to sic the fashion police on their officers.
Despite the department’s recently announced crackdown on unruly appearance, many of New York’s Finest have been caught blatantly flouting the dress code.
One punked-out patrolman sported a mohawk – a look that breaks the dress code requiring cops to have “neatly groomed” coifs that “con form to the shape of the head.”
An officer with purple streaks in her hair was seen holding her cap out side the Midtown South station house, exposing a ponytail that dipped below her collar – all dress- code no-nos.
An officer patrolling Eighth Avenue near Times Square made the trifecta of appearance infrac tions. He was spotted without his cap, his long ponytail flopped below his collar, and he was smok ing a ciga rette.
Exposed tattoos adorned several officers during the monthlong Post examination. While NYPD regulations allow those hired before Jan. 1, 2007, to have visible tattoos, those who joined after the cutoff date must cover up their skin ink with long-sleeved shirts or flesh-colored bandages.
Dozens of cops on the streets were not wearing their caps – a fashion faux pas, according to the NYPD patrol guide, a rulebook that outlines personal appearance and conduct for officers. According to the guide, uniformed officers must wear their caps squarely on the head, with no hair showing beneath the visor. Caps can be removed inside squad cars.
The mohawked officer was hatless when observed in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The patrolman, in a squad car, never donned his cap when he got out.
Chief of Patrol Robert Gianelli turned up the heat on department supervisors two weeks ago to make sure they and their subordinates were well groomed and properly attired. Gianelli, who took over the post this year, handed down the decree after meeting with slovenly dressed police brass, according to a Post report last week.
An NYPD spokesman said dress- code inspections would likely be coming soon to the precincts.