While police forces around the globe have varying rules and regulations about facial hair on their male police officers, India embraces the lip foliage. That’s right, police in Uttar Pradesh are encouraged to grow and maintain mustaches. They say it adds dignity and seriousness to their personality. In 2019, the police department approved a mustache allowance of $3.00 a month for the upkeep of the soup strainers. The ruling was an attempt to revive the old tradition of cops sporting robust mustaches, especially the handlebar and the ones that twirled along the upper lip, adding a dash of machismo to the police officer. “It’s all about the morale of the policemen," said Binod Kumar Singh, Commander of the 35th Battalion. “If their morale is up, they will give you better performance and results."
