The New Zealand police force has finally moved into the 21st century by allowing its officers to sport facial hair (albeit slightly begrudgingly). It’s not all plain sailing for the hirsute cops though. Whilst there’s no longer a prescription about the style or length of the facial furniture there is still a general catch all rule in place that means the policemen have to be selective about when they can grow a beard.
“employees should only grow beards and moustaches on leave”
Senior Officers insist that even with facial hair it’s essential that employees look “neat and tidy” when on duty and that of course, can be a difficult thing to achieve during that difficult growth period before the beard is established. As a result, a directive has been introduced which states, “in the interests of a professional look, employees should only grow beards and moustaches when on leave”.
That’s all very well if you’re blessed with great genes and can look like a lumberjack within a week but what about the rest of the mere mortals who either struggle for weeks to end up with a patchy mess or simply can’t grow anything at all below their fringe?
Beard transplants are becoming a global phenomenon
Well the good news for the baby-faced officers is that the beard transplant is catching on globally. Once a niche offering it’s now become much more commonplace thanks to the beard trend being driven by the Hollywood A list and top sportsmen. For a lot less cash than a hair transplant you can expect a similar operation where hair is migrated from the scalp to the face but with even higher rates of success.
In some cases the hair can grow so quickly that the recipient can be shaving within a couple of weeks so with only a slightly extended leave of absence a New Zealand officer could be bearded and ready to report for duty as per the Force’s directives.
