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Pittsburgh’s hair protection law doesn’t extend to police department

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh police officers must have neatly trimmed hair and male officers are not allowed to grow a beard unless there’s a medical diagnosis by a dermatologist. According to our partners at TribLive.com, this policy is not impacted by the CROWN Act, a law passed in October to spell out protections for resident who have hairstyles that reflect their culture and ethnicity.

A revision spearheaded by Mayor Bill Peduto would make it so that beards and “other forms of facial presentation” would not apply.

City officials have debated the last two weeks about who is and who is not protected under the law.

The council’s discussion on Wednesday eventually turned to members talking about the need to be aware of implicit biases they might hold.