It isn't just the haircut on its own. If there wasn't a history of this:
http://www.forgetthebox.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Ameri...
Like say the police looked more like this:
http://cdn.caughtoffside.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Swed...
Then haircut wouldn't matter. But I have yet to meet an American cop that didn't have a "military approved" haircut.
Re:Law Enforcement’s “Warrior” Problem
by thesteamboat on Thursday June 11, 2015 @04:59PM
(#9702394)
Off topic, but this brought to mind an amusing anecdote about Hunter S. Thompson. When he ran for Sheriff's office of Aspen, CO, he shaved his head bald and referred to the (ex-army, Republican) incumbent he was running against as "my long-haired opponent".
Short hair is pragmatic, but more importantly, it is a personal preference. Nobody should be criticized for wearing short hair. Doing that makes you no better than people who talk about "long-haired hippies" disparagingly.