The Police department on Wednesday said that they will allow Sikh officers from South Asia to “Wear Turban and grow Beards” while in uniform, by the increase in number of Sikh officers in the New York police department, the decision has been taken. The Police department also added the Turban must be blue in color.
The patrol guide of ‘New York Police Department’ states that the officers are prohibited from having beards or any nonuniform headdresses, but now there is a exception for religious accommodation.
With the police department going more diverse, many activists believe that the police have hurt the agency’s goal of being more inclusive.
The police department agreed to review its beard guidelines when a Muslim officer filed a federal law action lawsuit in June. The case is still pending.
Under the revised policy, Commissioner James P. O’Neill said on Wednesday, officers who are granted a religious accommodation from the department’s Equal Employment Opportunity Office will be allowed to have beards that extend up to one-half inch from the face. The officers may also wear turbans — with a hat shield it affixed to it — in place of the traditional police cap.
“We’re making this change so that every person in New York City who wants to apply and have the opportunity to work in the greatest police department in the nation, to make sure we give them that opportunity,” the commissioner said.
Officer Gurvinder Singh said this new change will help the department's efforts to recruit a more diverse force. He also predicted that in a January exam more Sikh candidates would sign up.
Officer Gurvinder Singh is also president of the Sikh Officers Association, which has 150 members.
“A lot of their kids wanted to join, but they couldn’t,” he said. “And now they can. This country has given us a lot, and now we want to pay it back.”
This decision will put America’s largest police force among a small group of law enforcement agencies like Washington, D.C, Calif and also beside the United States Army. That have religious offices to have facial hair and wear turbans.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has allowed Sikhs to wear turbans and have facial hair since 1990’s and begun permitting hijabs from this year.
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