(Tap Into Network) NEWARK, NJ — Muslim officers in the Newark Police Department will be able to wear a hijab as part of their uniform in what Newark Public Safety Director Brian O’Hara is calling a “slight change, but very impactful.”
“This change, which allows our Muslim female officers to wear the hijab in uniform, is appropriate and timely,” O’Hara said during a Thursday press conference. “It sends a message that as an agency, we value and respect having Muslim officers in our department.”
The change in uniform policy was announced at the police department’s building on Washington Street where authorities were joined by Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Imams Council of Newark President Daud Haqq.
In its traditional form, a hijab is worn by Muslim women to maintain modesty and privacy around men to whom they are not related to.
Newark Police Will Now Allow Hijabs for Muslim Officers should be deployed. After at least one Newark officer had brought the request of wearing a hijab as part of their uniform to the department’s attention, O’Hara said that multiple facets of safety and policy had to first be taken into consideration.
For instance, the public safety director explained that officials had to rule the possibility of a suspect potentially grabbing the garment as a tactic to choke the officer, be able to wear it safely under a protective helmet or to take it off immediately in an emergency situation.
With the new policy in place, the safety director said the move will not only serve as a message of consolidation with residents who practice the faith but show that the department aims to be more inclusive. Currently, O’Hara oversees a public safety department of more than 1,960 employees with a police division that is 34% Black, 44% Hispanic and 22% women.
“[The policy change] will help us attract other Muslim female officers to come and be police officers with us as well,” he said. “It also shows, visually, to the people in the community that we respect their faith, we value it, and we are proud to be a part of this community as well.”
