The New York Police Department has dropped it opposition to Sikh Americans from serving with their turbans and uncut beards, mandatory articles of the Sikh faith. Jasjit Singh Jaggi had filed a complaint last year with the Commission on Human Rights accusing the New York Police Department of religious discrimination. He claimed he was forced to resign because he refused to shave his beard and stop wearing a turban. The commission ordered the police department to reinstate Jaggi last month, and the city had until Thursday to appeal the ruling. The city of New York decided to not appeal the decision by the Commission on Human Rights. Jasjit Singh Jaggi will now be reinstated to serve as traffic officer for the New York Police Department (NYPD) after appropriate accomodations have been worked out. Also, NY Newsday reported yesterday that the city of New York would settle a lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court, by Amric Singh Rathour, over the same issue. Addtionally, Jagjit Singh became the first turbaned Sikh to graduate from the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department’s program for reserve officers. SMART congratulates the efforts of Panthic Cause, Sikh Coalition and the California Sikh Council for their support of these Sikhs in their quest to serve in law enforcement. SMART has trained over 5,000 local, state, and federal officers through its Law Enforcement Partnership Program and can now refer future trainees to uniformed Sikh police officers in the United States.
