Met removes religious barrier

All
Muslim women police officers will be allowed to wear traditional headscarves as
part of an initiative in London to boost recruitment from black and Asian
communities.

The Metropolitan Police is the first police force in the UK to permit the hijab.
It is designing a black and white chequered headscarf to be worn by Muslim
women officers.

Mohamood Mahroof, of the Association of Muslim Police, said, "The
Association welcomes the Met’s decision to introduce the hijab as an item of
uniform for Muslim officers. This will now make Muslim women who do wear a
hijab eligible to join the Met.

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"We hope many current and future officers will benefit from the
change."

Sikh officers are already allowed to wear turbans and the Met is considering
whether to allow potential recruits from the Rastafarian community to have
dreadlocks. The Home Office has instructed the Met to increase its number of
ethnic minority officers from 4.1 per cent to 25 per cent by 2009.