Despite COVID-19 restrictions, Hialeah chief orders haircuts for cops at a local shop 

Hialeah Police Chief Sergio Velazquez — a big believer that good grooming and good policing go hand in hand — worked out an arrangement with a local shop, Tony’s Barberia, to trim the hair and beards of cops, according to a memo sent to his department Tuesday.

Trouble is, under county and state coronavirus restrictions, keeping up officer appearances may also be breaking the law.

When Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez issued an emergency order for all non-essential businesses to shut down on March 19 to prevent the spread of COVID-19, barbershops were explicitly named as one of the shuttered services. A subsequent statewide stay-at-home order issued April 1 by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also did not make an exception for barbershops.

But there was no mention of that in the chief’s original memo, which was provided to the Herald. He stressed that grooming standards would not be relaxed, adding that protective masks fit better on neatly shaven faces — a point also stressed by health experts.

In a follow-up statement Wednesday, Velazquez argued that scruffy cops send the wrong message to the public: “Particularly in these unprecedented times of a global health pandemic which has caused tension and anxiety and disruption in our community, it is imperative that our law enforcement Officers project an image of command and authority.”

Earlier in the day, after the Herald first inquired about the grooming memo, Velazquez seemed to back off, issuing another memo without explanation that said simply: “The below has been rescinded.”

But in a statement a few hours later, he sounded still set on keeping his force well groomed. He defended his original memo and said he had the authority to issue that directive and did not acknowledge his subsequent decision to rescind it. Velazquez told the Herald that even though grooming services may be non-essential to the general public, “it is essential that our Officers be able to access these services as required by Departmental general orders.”

He did not immediately clarify what the department’s final order was on grooming during the pandemic.

In his original memo, the chief told officers there had been no relaxation of appearance or uniform standards. To get their hair and beards trimmed, he wrote, officers would need only to show city identification at Tony’s Barberia. The shop was to begin offering its services Wednesday with plans to be open from Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Three Hialeah city council members reached by phone Wednesday said they were unaware of any arrangement between police and Tony’s Barberia. Council member Oscar De la Rosa said he didn’t know about it until he was told by a Herald reporter.

“We have to be very careful with gatherings and which businesses are open,” De la Rosa said. “Obviously we have to promote small businesses, but right now, we want to make sure that the public ... is taken care of.”

Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez did not respond to a request for comment.

A Hialeah police officer who asked to remain anonymous said the memo was real. He also said it seemed a bit strange because proper grooming has “never been an issue before.”

“Some guys wear their hair a little long. I haven’t had a haircut in a month, I’m going nuts,” the officer said.

Reached by phone Wednesday, a man named Lazaro said he was the owner of Tony’s Barberia. He said at least two officers had already received haircuts prior to the chief’s decision to cancel the plan.

Lazaro said his barbers wore masks and gloves and that customers were instructed to wait for their turn outside the store. Asked about the county order to close barbershops, Lazaro said he was unaware and that “nobody told us.”

“We are taking precautions to serve the Hialeah police,” he said.

The memo from Velazquez on Tuesday said the barbershop “will be operating within the social distance rules and use of PPE,” but it didn’t make any reference to county and state orders requiring non-essential businesses to close.

As of Wednesday, Hialeah police said only one officer had tested positive for COVID-19, the deadly infection caused by the novel coronavirus.

Other local police departments reached Wednesday said facial grooming hadn’t even come up as an issue.

Miami-Dade Police Benevolent Association President Steadman Stahl, who represents the largest police staff in the Southeast U.S., said uniformed officers are usually not permitted to have beards, but that the policy is being relaxed during the pandemic.

Ron Papier, deputy police chief in Miami, said there is also a no-beard policy for his department’s 1,300 sworn police officers. But the issue of officers being publicly groomed during the pandemic has not come up.

Florida Division of Emergency Management spokesman Jason Mahon said the state doesn’t mandate any grooming practices for local law enforcement.

“We encourage all Floridians, including first responders to follow social distancing guidelines as much as possible and to heed the directions in all Executive Orders,” Mahon said in an email.

The leaked memo was sent to Hialeah police on the same day the city made national headlines over images that showed hundreds of residents lining up side-by-side to pick up paper applications to file for unemployment benefits. At least one of the four designated drive-thru sites had packed crowds lined up outside, and videos showed residents were not keeping proper distance stipulated by federal authorities.

Hialeah, the sixth-largest city in Florida with around 238,000 residents, has the third-most confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state: 637 as of Wednesday morning.

This story was originally published April 8, 2020 at 5:47 PM.