A Sikh ex-traffic policeman and members of New York City?s Sikh community are pressing the city to change a police guideline that they feel unfairly discriminates against members of their religion. The controversy started when the traffic policeman was told during his training last year that he would have to shave his beard and stop wearing a turban---actions which would violate Sikh religious tenets---and was later fired while a hearing on the matter was pending. The traffic policeman wants the NYPD to follow the example of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police by creating a regulation turban for uniformed Sikhs and allowing them to keep their beards.
See "Sikh Wants End To Turban Ban", SEAN GARDINER, Newsday, March 10, 2002