Hellooooo,
i see this situation as nothing more than a safety concern. living in nyc there is no way that police officers can have hair in the way. whether it is tied back or left down it is not permitted by the police dept. one is aware of these rules and regulations before they graduate from the academy so if there is such a problem then do not do it!!
i work in corporate america in nyc and the environment that i work in allows dreds, pink hair, basically anything fashionable. in some of these small towns in the us maybe this type of nonconformism is not accepted, but in nyc hell yeah!!