White Philly Cop With Cornrows Pulled from Duty

To get booted off the street, a police officer has to do something pretty serious - like shoot a suspect or be accused of brutality.

But in the 35th District, apparently a hairdo will do it. A cop who got cornrows was ordered off the street and kept on desk duty for two days until he cut his braids off, sources said.

While dozens of black officers across the city wear cornrows, Officer Thomas Strain is white. So when the five-year veteran showed up for work Sept. 3 with the traditionally black hairstyle, it didn't take long for his colleagues - or his bosses - to notice." They pulled him out of roll call and took him right up to the inspector's office," said an officer who asked to remain anonymous. Inspector Aaron Horne who is African-American oversees the Northwest Police Division, which includes the 35th District, is the supervisor who directed Strain to banish the braids.

Reached last week, Strain declined to comment about the hair hubbub. It's absolutely discriminatory," said one officer. Strain's cornrows 'do "was neat. It was above his collar. It's not like he shaved a Nazi sign or something anti-black or anti-Hispanic on his head. It's just cornrows. I don't know what the problem is."

The problem, police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore said, is that Strain's superior didn't feel his cornrows were "professional." Ordering Strain to chop them off had nothing to do with discrimination, added Vanore, "The policy's the policy, it doesn't matter what race you are," Vanore said. He couldn't explain why black officers with cornrows weren't ordered to get haircuts, however.

Still, while the division inspector did instruct Strain to get a haircut, Vanore emphasized, the officer wasn't formally disciplined.