Reference no: EM132303584

Wearing religious headdress are allowed for a sworn officer because it doesn’t create undue hardship for the organization. The headdress is a reasonable accommodation as long as it doesn’t negatively impact the operations of the police department (Beatty, Samuelson, & Brdeson, 2013). This accommodation standard is often challenged and the need to more clearly define Title VII has been something that many have used as a means to exclude religious wear while on duty (Little, A). It is difficult to imagine how wearing religious headdress as a police officer would be an impediment to an operation.

Religious headdress, facial hair, and other adornments have been under scrutiny for many years in the police community. One of the goals of public safety institutions is to closely match the demographics of the communities they protect. Southall (2016) describes the addition of allowing turbans and beards for Sikh and Muslim officers within the NYPD was an important step forward in addressing diversity within the department. It was also an effective recruiting tool and afforded many people an opportunity to serve who felt previously excluded because of the restrictions. This standard is still in question and several states have disallowed this policy and several others have not taken a position one way or another.

How can this be looked at differently?