By Ralph Ciprianofor BigTrial.net
On her first official day in office, new Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw, dressed in full uniform, made the rounds yesterday, to formally meet and greet many of the troops serving under her.
It was all going according to protocol until somebody took issue with the new police commissioner's nails.
What was the problem? Well, Outlaw, 43, a West Coast native who is the first black woman to serve as the city's police commissioner, was sporting dark fingernails. This may not have been a fashion faux pax, but it apparently was a violation of official department policy. Why? Because, according to the official directives of the stodgy Philly P.D., "only clear nail polish is acceptable while in uniform."
What happened next has the whole department talking. Outlaw, apparently still steamed about the nail controversy, came in to work this morning and issued her first official order, which was to effectively do away with the clear polish directive. The new police commissioner was obviously letting everybody know there's a new sheriff in town. But the police reaction to their new commissioner's order was predictably split along gender lines.
To a lot of male cops, issuing a policy directive about nail polish didn't make much sense."400 homicides a year and this is the first order she puts out?" said one puzzled male cop.
"For that to be her incoming statement and her first hurrah, it's quite embarrassing," said another male cop. "This is the fourth largest police department in the country; it's a paramilitary organization with very clear rules about what you can do and what you can't do."
The only way the second male cop could rationalize what Outlaw had done was to cast the new policy as "her first softball to the community." As in, "we're just like you, we wear nail polish too," the cop said.
A third male cop thought the new policy was "petty as hell."
"Somebody pointed out something to her," he said, and her response was to get mad, and then get even. As in, "I'm not gonna take any shit; I'll show them."
When the new police commissioner came to town, the third male cop said, she had a choice to make. When she got named commissioner she could have read though all those official department directives to know what they said, so there wouldn't have been any surprises on her first day.
But instead, the third male cop suggested, Outlaw put her energy into passing the test to earn the annual certification of the Municipal Police Officers' Education & Training Commission. As a new cop in Pennsylvania, Outlaw had to be certified by the MPO before she could wear the uniform and carry a gun. Even though under the current policies of the Philly PD, she had a year to get certified.
But Outlaw, a quick study, passed the test and showed up with her MPO certification on her first full day on the job, dressed in full uniform.
On social media, some female police officers expressed approval of their new boss's directive.
"We are now free to wear fingernail polish," one woman wrote. "it's the small things."
Other women posted emojis of a band playing and a little girl jumping for joy.
But a retired female detective from another East Coast big city police department saw the new commissioner's action as setback for women in uniform.
"The first action of this commissioner has taken us back to the 1980s as far as the suitability of women in law enforcement," she wrote. "This action has successfully proven that women in law enforcement do not know what the priority is," which she defined as "to protect and serve."
The commissioner's order, the female detective predicted, "no doubt will become the joke of" the Philadelphia Police Department.
As if on cue, another male critic on social media wrote, "I'm sure this new directive will drastically reduce the homicide rate in the city."
The police commissioner's message issued this morning was addressed to "all commanding officers, districts/units." The subject: a new "amendment to directive 6.7, 'uniforms and equipment.'"
The commissioner stated that henceforth, in the uniforms and equipment directive, the section that states "only clear nail polish is acceptable while in uniform" was hereby deleted. The commissioner wrote that her "general message shall supersede Directive 6.7" until such time as "the directive is amended to reflect this change."
"Commanding officers will ensure all personnel are made aware of the contents of this general" message," the police commissioner wrote. She ordered that her general message should be read "at all roll calls for three [3] consecutive days."
Signed: "Danielle M. Outlaw, Police Commissioner."
So the first cultural clash was over between new Commissioner Outlaw and the crusty department she inherited.
Clear nails was a clear loser. But whether there's a clear winner has yet to be determined.