NYPD Makes Major Change to Uniform Policy


In addition to turbans, NYPD officers will also be able to grow beards to a certain length. It’ll be interesting to see how they enforce that one. Do you have to be religious to grow a beard? Or are they catering to one religion in particular?

“We want to make the NYPD as diverse as possible, and I think this is going to go a long way to help us with that,” O’Neill said.

“It’s a major change in our uniform policy, so we had to go about it carefully. And now I have the opportunity to make the change, and I thought it was about time that we did that.”

While the NYPD patrol guide maintains a strict policy regarding head coverings, officers will now be able to wear turbans with a religious exemption signed by top department officials, O’Neill said.

There are about 160 Sikh officers in the NYPD, the commissioner said.

Before the policy change, Sikh officers could wear a smaller wrap, known as a patka, beneath their official police cap, said Gurvinder Singh, an NYPD officer and president of the national Sikh Officers Association.

“Now I’ll be able to serve with my full turban on. It’s a great feeling,” he said.

“There will be a lot more Sikh officers now taking the next exam.”

The NYPD also announced Wednesday a religious accommodation allowing for officers to, with approval, grow a beard up to half an inch long. The previous policy had allowed for beards of up to a millimeter in length.

Some leaders in the Sikh community applauded the policy change on turbans, but said the NYPD needed to go further with the policy on facial hair.

“While it’s definitely a great step, we look forward to reviewing the policy in depth and ensuring that Sikhs can serve with their turban and beards intact and with no limitations or restrictions to either,” said Kavneet Singh, a board member of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

The turban and the practice of keeping a beard or unshorn hair, known as kesh, are among the articles of faith maintained by Sikhs.

The articles surrounding this are very focused on Sikhs. And nobody really has a problem with Sikhs who don’t like being compared to practitioners of Islam. However, is it possible that they’re trying to accommodate Muslims by claiming to stand up for Sikhs? It’s all so political and slightly confusing.

Source: edition.cnn.com

Photo: Twitter

 



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