Houston police honour fallen Sikh policeman, change dress code policy
NEW POLICY WILL ALLOW SIKH OFFICERS IN THE HOUSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT TO WEAR ARTICLES OF FAITH WHILE ON DUTY
HOUSTON: In honour of fallen Indian-american Sikh police officer Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal, the Houston Police Department has changed its dress code policy to allow the minority community members to represent their faith while on duty.
On September 28, Dhaliwal, a 10-year veteran of the Harris County Sheriff’s office and its first Sikh deputy, was gunned down while conducting a mid-day traffic stop in northwest of Houston.
The 42-year-old trailblazing police officer made national headlines when he was allowed to grow beard and wear a turban on the job. “@houstonpolice is now the largest law enforcement agency in TX to adopt a policy allowing officers to wear articles of faith on duty,” City of Houston tweeted on Monday.
“Proud to announce HPD will accommodate Sikh officers by letting them wear their articles of faith while on duty. Deputy Dhaliwal taught us all a valuable lesson about inclusion. It was an honour to know him,” Houston mayor Sylvester Turner tweeted.
“Proud to stand with @Sylvesterturner and so many members of our community to announce our policy and get the word out to our greater community,” chief of the Houston Police Department Art Acevedo tweeted.
The HPD announced that they are changing its uniform policy to allow officers to wear their articles of faith while on duty in order to be more inclusive in honour of the fallen Sikh deputy, Fox News reported.