1. Appearance and Tattoo policy
* Hernando County Sheriff's Office Appearance General Order PURPOSE: The purpose of this general order is to establish general appearance guidelines for personnel of the Hernando County Sheriff's Office.
SCOPE: This order will apply to all personnel.
DISCUSSION: It is the policy of the Hernando County Sheriff's Office that all personnel, whether civilian or sworn officers, shall present a neat, clean and professional appearance to the public while representing this office.
PROCEDURES: • Clothing, whether uniform or civilian, will be clean and neatly pressed and free of tears or worn areas.
• Shoes and/or leather will be polished.
• Insignia or other emblems will be properly placed and shined.
PERSONAL APPEARANCE:• Employees will use personal hygiene practices.
• Mustaches, if worn, will be neatly groomed and in keeping with a professional appearance. Mustaches shall not extend more than 1/4 " horizontally below the corner of the mouth, nor shall it extend over the upper lip. Extreme styles are not permitted.
• Beards or any facial hairstyles are prohibited for sworn and non-sworn uniformed personnel or personnel having public contact. Only exceptions to the rule are those limited assignments as approved by the Sheriff, i.e. Vice and SEU.
• Beards or goatees, if worn, will be neatly groomed and in keeping with a professional appearance unless previous approval has been obtained according to assignment as noted above.
• Tattoos are prohibited in a visible location on the neck, face, head or hands of employees. As of October 1, 2016 candidates for employment/new employees shall not have tattoos of any extremist, indecent, sexist or racist content in a visible location.
• Tattoos located on the arms or other non-restricted areas that may be visible shall be covered when in a teaching (e.g. SRO, etc.) or public speaking capacity, including internal activities.
• If the tattoo is below the elbow, it shall be covered when assigned to any position involving calls for service or investigation.
The employee may choose to cover the tattoo(s) by wearing:
• a long sleeve uniform shirt
• a long sleeve under shirt (no logos or apparel names)
• long pants
• an approved arm sleeve tattoo cover
• arm sleeve tattoo covers shall either be black to match the undershirt, or a color which closely resembles the wearer's natural skin tone
Employees shall not wear any item of ornamentation in their nose, eyebrow, tongue or any other location of their body that is visible during duty hours or any duty-related function, with the exception of permitted earrings (refer to C, below). Ornamentation shall include body piercing jewelry, intentional body mutilation or scarring, or foreign objects inserted in/under the skin.
JEWELRY AND ACCESSORIES: Earrings:• Sworn male personnel are prohibited from wearing earrings while on duty.
• Uniformed sworn female personnel may wear plain, small, close-fitting, post-type earrings, limited to two (2) per ear. All earrings shall be worn in the earlobes. Hoops or dangling earrings are not permitted while in uniform.
Hair Accessories:• Male employees are prohibited from wearing hair accessories while on duty.
• Female employees: Hair clasps, barrettes or fasteners worn while in uniform will be functional, not decorative.
• Teeth, whether natural, capped or veneer, will not be ornamented with designs, jewels, initials, etc.
Hair Styles: • Hair will be neatly groomed and in keeping with good taste and safety. Fashions must conform to generally accepted standards for the law enforcement community. The acceptability of an employee's hair will be based upon the criteria in this policy, and not upon the style in which the employee chooses to wear his/her hair.
• Sworn personnel, male: Hairstyles shall present a neat, conservative and professional appearance. Hair length shall not be over the ears or longer than the top of the uniform collar.
• Sworn personnel, female: Hairstyles shall be neat and professional in appearance. If medium or long hair is preferred, the hair shall be worn "up" and shall not fall below the collar. Ponytails are prohibited. Hairstyles shall not interfere with the proper positioning/wearing of the uniform hat.
• Exceptions to the above stated rules may only be allowed for specialized assignments and with the approval of the Bureau Commander or Sheriff.
PERSONAL BUSINESS:• Employees shall not wear the Sheriff's Office uniform, nor use their official ID, for personal gain or special consideration when conducting personal business.
• Employees shall not conduct personal business while in uniform, on or off-duty, in any manner which is intended to influence the other party. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Buying vehicles, property, or other major
purchases.
- Requesting loans or other banking business, other
than routine deposits or withdrawals.
- Routine shopping at retail or other outlets.
• Employees in uniform are not prohibited from shopping for or buying items for immediate consumption, such as meals, gum, snacks or other small items.
Al Nienhuis, Sheriff
By signing below, I have read and agree to the terms of this document
2. Prison Rape Elimination Act Compliance
To remain compliant with the Department of Justice Standards, particularly the Prison Rape Elimination Act, the following questions are required for all internal and external positions posted (to include promotions) for the Hernando County Sheriff Office.