NEW YORK: In good news, Sikh officers in the New York Police Department will now be allowed to wear their turbans while on duty. NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill said, "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. 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."
A navy blue turban with a badge will replace the traditional cap worn by other personnel, wearers will however, need approval from their senior officers. O'Neill said there were around 160 Sikhs who served in the NYPD and they all welcomed the news. The Sikh Officers Association tweeted, "This is a proud moment for Sikh community."
Also, religious officers are now allowed to grow facial hair to up to 1.27cm, again, only with the permission of a superior. Otherwise, the limit for facial hair remains just one millimetre. Kavneet Singh, of the Sikh American Legal Defence and Education Fund said that while the move was a "great step", he looked forward to "reviewing the policy in depth and ensuring that Sikhs can serve with their turban and beards intact" with "no limitations".
