Chris Brown begins community labor - at police-horse stable

On Wednesday (Sept. 16), the disgraced 20-year-old R&B star kicked off his court-ordered community service for assaulting his then sweetheart Rihanna during an altercation back in February.

Brown, 20, was sentenced last month to six months of community labor and a 52-week domestic violence prevention program after pleading guilty June 22 to felony assault. He was also placed on probation for five years and ordered to stay away from Rihanna until Aug. 25, 2014, when his probation period is over.

Clears weeds, picks up trash
Wearing a fluorescent orange vest, a red baseball cap, baggy jeans and work gloves, the "Kiss Kiss" singer performed some of his community service hours on Wednesday. He cleared out-of-control weeds and debris at a Virginia police-horse stable for the first day of his 180-day community service.

Working along with two others who were serving probation, Brown cleared tall weeds and brush by hand and with yard tools, according to a report from The Associated Press.

The report says that only a few fans and media persons were there to see the "Run It" performer working. Brown did not speak to the media but waved his fans, AP reports. "It's a good example of what he will be doing," said Richmond police spokesman Gene Lepley.

"It was important for the chief and to the judge that they clear this brush by hand. There was no electric- or gas-powered Weed Whacker. It was hard work -- that brush outside the paddock area had grown quite high."

Brown’s flexible schedule
The law enforcement officers in charge of the situation told TMZ that Brown has to spend 3-5 hours a day as part of the ‘roadside cleanup crew’ and his duties involve cleaning up trash on the side of the road and picking up those pesky weeds.

Lepley told AP that Brown's schedule, including work hours and days, will be flexible and include different types of manual labor like washing government cars, picking up trash and cleaning up graffiti.

"We'll just take a look at it day by day and certainly would ask for the cooperation of the public and Chris' fans so that he is able to satisfy the work requirements," he said.

Brown Tweets
Before heading to the Richmond Police stable Chris posted “on my way to community service” on his new Twitter account.

Hours after performing his community labor, Brown tweeted: “Check out my outfit”. He also posted a picture of himself in his work outfit.

Brown is due to appear in court on Nov. 19 to provide update on his status to his sentencing judge Patricia Schnegg. The singer is ordered not to contact Rihanna for the next five years. Brown is abiding by a protection order that mandates him to stay 100 yards away from Rihanna and not to threaten her in any way until his probation period ends.

According to the protective order and the conditions, Brown should stay 10 yards away from the “Umbrella” singer during music-industry events they both attend.