A Police Scotland beards ban is being reviewed following complaints from officers.
The Sunday Mail revealed in August how the controversial new rules were brought in during the pandemic to allow high-quality Covid masks to be fitted. But a number of officers were furious at being told to shave their facial hair, with some understood to have been placed on desk duties for failing to comply.
A source said: “Beards had become quite fashionable so people were not happy at being made to shave. A few officers were told they couldn’t leave the station because they were deemed to have too much growth. There is less of a requirement now to wear masks and other forces in the UK can have beards.”
Scottish officers were told to get rid of beards unless they had a medical or religious exemption. The guidance reversed rules from 2017 which allowed “established beards and moustaches”.
However, a Police Scotland spokeswoman confirmed the ban is now under review. She said: “The welfare of our people is paramount and we require officers to wear appropriate face masks to protect them in certain circumstances, depending on the nature of the incidents they are dealing with.
“Officers should be clean-shaven unless exempt on religious or medical grounds because these masks are individually fitted for each user, with a secure seal around the face to provide appropriate level of protection. A new policy around the requirement to be clean-shaven is being developed following a detailed review of our Covid response and will be communicated to officers and staff in due course.”
In Scotland tattoos are allowed as long as they aren’t on the face but they are expected not to be “inflammatory, rude, lewd, crude, racist, sexist, sectarian, homophobic, violent or intimidating”.
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