Just a little bit off the top

College Park barbershop a cut above for police

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo Barbara L. Salisbury⁄The Gazette Tan Nguyen (left), owner of Tan’s Barbershop in College Park, finishes shaving a police officer’s head while Cpl. Frank Mammano waits his turn in the chair. The walls of Nguyen’s shop are covered with police patches, which he has collected for the past 10 years. Nguyen’s father was a chief of police in Vietnam, so he has always had a good relationship with the police. Many officers drive from across the county and beyond to get their haircut by Nguyen.

Drop by Tan’s Barbershop on Route 1 in North College Park during any afternoon and the scene is the same — county and municipal police officers, local firefighters, even FBI agents waiting patiently in Nguyen’s lobby for their monthly trim.

Having established himself as the area’s premiere flattop and buzz cut specialist, officers like Prince George’s Cpl. Frank Mammano know what to expect: a clip here, a snip there and an electric razor for shaping up the edges.

‘‘His hand is just so steady, and it’s hard to find barbers like that,” said Mammano, whose inch and a half-long locks are longer than most county officers, earning him the nickname ‘‘hippie cop” from Nguyen. ‘‘We go where the reputation is, and [police officers] are so particular about regulations, it’s good to have someone who knows exactly how to do it.”

Scott Hinckley, a supervisory special agent with the FBI, said he wouldn’t trust anyone else to keep his short cut nice and tight.

‘‘He (Nguyen) takes pride in what he does,” Hinckley said. ‘‘When it comes to military-style haircuts, Tan is the man.”

Like most of Nguyen’s law enforcement clientele, Mammano and county Cpl. Jim Sandacz have been coming back to Nguyen’s barber chair for more than a decade. Most county officer customers, Nguyen said, followed him from a shop in Bowie to a Laurel location to his new office in College Park, where he opened shop last month.

‘‘He gets it straight and he gets it right,” said Sandacz, reciting the keys to a perfect short cut, which, of course, includes a symmetrical chop on the top. ‘‘Word of mouth advertising is the way to go, especially for Tan.”

For Nguyen of Rockville, a Vietnam native who fled the country with his father when North Vietnamese forces invaded South Vietnam in 1980, serving policemen is only natural.

Nguyen’s father, Van, served as the chief of police in the province of Minhduc before taking his son on a death-defying journey – which included encounters with pirate ships, starvation, dehydration and extreme cold – that eventually led them to American soil. Tuesday marked the 22nd anniversary of Nguyen’s first steps into the U.S.

‘‘It means a lot to me [to cut officers’ hair] because my father once did the same job as they do,” said Nguyen.

Upon arriving in the country in 1984, Nguyen worked as a welder in West Virginia before opting to cut hair four years later.

Unlike most of Nguyen’s clients, county officer Tam Cragg speaks with Nguyen in his native language, making for a few memorable conversations over the years.

As Cragg waited in the barbershop Tuesday afternoon, with his hair barely a half inch on the top, he realized how convenient Nguyen’s services had become for local law enforcement members.

‘‘When you go to a guy for a long time, you don’t even have to tell him what you want anymore,” Cragg said.

With perhaps the county’s best lunch break police presence, Nguyen said his shop has never been robbed, as nearby business owners appreciate the constant sight of police cruisers.

‘‘It’s one of the best forms of security I have around here,” said Tammy Hnarakis, owner of Precision Small Engines, which is located next door to Tan’s. ‘‘I feel like we have our own little substation here in North College Park. It’s really been an asset to the community.”

While Nguyen carefully nipped-off the ragged ends of Sandacz’s short sideburns, he recalled his initial reaction to the steady stream of policemen who began filing into his shop 15 years ago.

‘‘I was surprised at first,” Nguyen said. ‘‘But I have always been happy to cut their hair.”

E-mail Dennis Carter at dcarter@gazette.net.