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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, which is first police force in the UK to permit the hijab, is designing a black and white chequered headscarf which will replace the hat or cap this summer among the force's dozen or so Muslim officers.
Muslim women cover their heads in public as a symbol of their religious beliefs and modesty and being unable to wear the hijab has been identified as a reason for their reluctance to consider the police force as a career.
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. We hope many current and future officers will benefit from the change."
The initiative called Protect and Respect: Everybody Benefits was launched at a conference in London, which was attended by about 500 delegates.
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 Met has been told by the Home Office to increase the number of ethnic minority officers from 4.1 per cent to 25 per cent by 2009.
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