Houston PD Policy Will Allow Officers to Grow Beards

Two years after loosening up the department's tattoo regulations, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo announced that officers will be allowed to grow beards.

Driven in part by requests from rank-and-file, the move brings the city in line with similar shifts at agencies in Dallas and Austin, as well as the Harris County Sheriff's Office, reports the Houston Chronicle .

"We have to evolve as an organization to serve this melting pot we call Houston," Acevedo told the Chronicle last week, "but we also need to change to meet the needs of our workforce."

Police union president Joe Gamaldi lauded the change as a way to help attract new officers.