New York police will eliminate beard length, coffee drinking, punctuality. sources

Metro:

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By: Tina Moore, Craig McCarthy and: Steve Janoski

March 13, 2023 |: 7:36 p.m

The NYPD has decided to crack down on its already thin, overworked ranks by rooting out cops who grow their beards too long, drink coffee on the job and don’t empty their trash cans fast enough, The Post has learned.

The growing police enforcement effort, ordered by Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell, is being led by the Bureau of Professional Standards’ Standards and Evaluation Division, which is bimonthly, according to the NYPD.

“If someone doesn’t comply with the beard procedure, they will look into it,” said DCPI Commander Kevin Maloney. “That’s really all the police have to adhere to… it’s their job to make sure they do that. It’s just following the rules.”

In addition to keeping police officers from growing their beards above the departmental quarter-inch limit, the department is tasked with investigating such nuisances as officers who keep inaccurate memos, tint their windows too dark on their personal vehicles or fail to properly comb their hair. the hair

The unit, led by Superintendent Robert O’Hare, will also ensure that officers wear their body cameras on the correct clothing, update roll calls promptly, report on time and do not leave their posts early.

Officers who advance to sergeants and lieutenants designated as monitors will either receive a warning or be subject to command discipline or internal memos that could result in lost vacation time, which typically ranges from five to 10 days, depending on the violation.

And it’s happening at precinct roll calls across the city, though the NYPD declined to say how many command orders it has issued so far.

An example would be a cop who showed up for a detail without a hat, an NYPD spokesman said.

“Everyone should look professional,” Maloney told The Post.

Police said the new initiative, officially announced on January 17, has left them somewhere between eye-rolling and outright rebellion.

“It’s pathetic. everybody’s talking about it,” said one Brooklyn police officer, a 20-year veteran. “The boys say they’ve never seen such bad morale. It’s the attitude [the bosses] want to catch you for something… Why do you have to go higher to do something right now?’

According to another officer, some of New York’s finest are taking it with a dose of dark humor, calling the new unit a “death squad” because it’s the “s—t” that pushes cops to the brink.

“As if we don’t have enough stress,” the officer said. “I never see my family anymore and you’re taking more time away from me. It’s a very stressful situation.”

Patrick Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association, said the new inspections would only worsen “the NYPD’s historic staffing crisis.”

“It’s absolutely amazing that monitoring beard length and sock color are the NYPD’s top priorities right now,” Lynch said.

“NYPD officers can’t pay their bills. They never get to see their families. “Every day they fight against criminals who have no fear and a justice system that gives no consequences,” he added.

The department does not apologize.

“Follow the rules, you’re not in trouble,” said a police spokesman. “That seems simple enough. . . . We can’t have double standards.”

Brass’s decision to drop the hammer on the classification comes at a particularly difficult time. The NYPD is facing a historic shortage of officers as cops continue to surrender their badges at an alarming rate.

The NYPD’s roster of 33,822 uniformed officers is already 1,208 below budget, The Post reported last week.

Between January and February of this year, 239 officers resigned, a 36% increase over the 176 officers who resigned during the same period in 2022. And that’s a staggering 117% higher than the 2021 numbers, according to NYPD pension data.

However, the numbers follow last year’s mass emigration. New York’s top cops will lose 3,701 officers to retirement or retirement in 2022, the most since 3,846 after 9/11.

Cops say it’s not just low wages or department policies that are to blame. A source previously told The Post that police officers are being forced to work “inhumane amounts of overtime” that include sacrificing their weekends.

Pressure from the Bureau of Standards is unlikely to help stem the tide.

According to police sources, precinct supervisors were sent a message by senior officials in recent weeks alerting them to the new unit.

The memo warned that police working at Friday’s St Patrick’s Day parade should be particularly vigilant as O’Hare’s eagle-eyed teams will be watching to ensure they are “properly uniformed with presentable shoes, clothing and properly groomed, including hair and facial hair.” “.

They will also clean the waste baskets. the memo states that “teams will check to ensure that litter is littered and not littered at all levels of command.”

Late tours and weekends, which are “more likely to be neglected,” will be particularly vulnerable, according to a memo obtained by The Post.

Monitors will also review body camera footage from 311 calls, as well as crime reduction officers’ overtime requests and individual officer memos documenting their break times and locations.

“It is the supervisor’s responsibility to check the police officer’s memos for these details and they will be held accountable along with the police officers if any deficiencies are found,” the memo said.

Officers say that will only cause more burned-out officers to leave the ranks.

“They just add to the stress, so people say they’re prone and leave,” the source said. “Punish, punish. I always hear the frustration and [that they’re] looking for new jobs.”