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| Down Under |
| W.A police add turbans and hijabs as acceptable uniform |
| 2006-01-13 |
| WEST Australian police have added turbans and hijabs to their list of accepted uniform items in an effort to encourage more Sikh and Muslim people to join the force. At today's launch of the additions to the traditional blue uniform, police commissioner Karl O'Callaghan said the innovation was a milestone in the 152-year history of the WA force. "The police have always been pretty rigid as far as their uniform regulations go. We are relaxing those, we are changing those and we are now allowing people to join and wear culturally appropriate clothing," Dr O'Callaghan said. "This directive is a step forward for WA police in embracing Western Australia's diverse and multicultural society." The new directive allows police officers who have genuine religious or cultural requirements to adapt their uniform to meet these needs. The items of cultural clothing, including turbans and hijabs, will correspond with the blue of the WA police service and will include the chequered hatband and badge. Beards worn on religious or cultural grounds will also be acceptable. Suresh Rajan, of the WA Police ethnic advisory committee, said the uniform change would make a difference. "It makes the service far more relevant, as people from these communities can look at the people in the police service representing them and feel some sort of affinity," Mr Rajan said. Satwant Singh, of the Sikh Association of WA, said he hoped the initiative would encourage more ethnic communities to consider joining the police. "What this has done is open the general mainstream community, to say to them there are other communities that are part and parcel of Australia," Mr Singh said. |
| Posted by:Oztralian |
| #2 It's a milestone in West Australian ,a href="http://www.dhimmitude.org/index.php>Dhimmitude |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet O´ Doom 2006-01-13 15:25 |
| #1 "This directive is a step forward for WA police in embracing Western Australia's diverse and multicultural society." Something tells me the average "Westy" may have a slightly different view, whahahahahaaa. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-01-13 11:07 |