Rastafarian Officer Fights for Dreadlocks

July 25 -- A Rastafarian police officer recently taken off Baltimore’s streets because of his dreadlocks may soon be fighting in court to walk his beat.

A six-year veteran of the force, Antoine Chambers was reassigned from his beat as a uniformed officer to desk duty after telling police officials that he would not obey a new division regulation barring officers from wearing dreadlocks, cornrows and braids.

Chambers argued that cutting his dreadlocks would violate his religious beliefs as a Rastafarian, who grow their hair long and believe their long locks are supported by the Bible.

“They wanted me to cut off my locks completely,” says Chambers. “I told my supervisor that the policy violated my religious and spiritual beliefs and that I would not obey a policy just because the department wanted everyone to look the same.”

Police officials say the department is not violating his religious rights, and that it has a right to establish and enforce a dress code.

After explaining his reasons for refusing to cut his hair, Chambers was told to present a letter from a religious authority to explain the significance of the dreadlocks. When Chambers presented a letter from the Rev. Norman A. Handy Sr., a religious scholar and local councilman, police officials again rejected his argument, and he was restricted to administrative duty.

“I was told it [the letter] still wasn’t acceptable,” Chambers said. “In fact, I was advised that I should cut my hair and then take up the legal matters at a later time, but I said that would contradict my beliefs.”

Chambers claims his superiors never explained the reasons behind the police department’s stance on his locks and claims that the other members of the force — plainclothed and uniformed officers — have hairstyles that could be considered extreme by the department.

“There was no explanation whatsoever,” Chambers said. “Their only explanation was that I was in insubordination. ... While I haven’t seen any officers wearing locks, there are male officers, in a plainclothed capacity, who wear their hair in a pony-tail, and uniformed female officers whose hair goes below the collar.”