Gursoach Kaur is appointed as the New York Police Department’s first female turbaned Sikh auxiliary police officer. Her appointment definitely aims to motivate others to join law enforcement and help create better understanding of Sikhism.
Kaur is going to join the New York Police Department as an Auxiliary Police Officer (APO) after graduating last week from the New York City Police Academy.
The Sikh Officers association which is nation’s first organisation to represent Sikh Officers in Law Enforcement said on twitter:
We are proud to welcome first #Sikh Turbaned female Auxiliary Police Officer in the @NYPDnews. APO Gursoach Kaur and other Auxiliary Police Officers graduated from the Academy. We are proud of you. Stay safe. #sikhsinlawenforcement pic.twitter.com/P4q2ysUVbK
— Sikh Officers Assoc. (@SikhOfficers) May 16, 2018
The association expressed on its Facebook Page, “Your service will be a motivation for others to join the Law enforcement Family."
James O'Neil, the New York Police commissioner had said in 2016 that there are about 160 Sikh officers serving in various ranks and he was looking to expand those numbers.
The NYPD had also said that it will allow its Sikh officers to wear turbans and maintain beards, relaxing its uniform policy to promote inclusiveness and encourage the minority community members to join the force.
There is words of praise everywhere for Gursoach.
Hardeep Singh Suri, the Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs also tweeted about Kaur, “Delighted to see a turbaned lady officer in NYPD. Hope this fosters better understanding of Sikhism and Sikhs and corrects perceptions in the US so that incident which happened with me in 2010 and recently with Canada minister Navdeep Bains do not recur. Sikhs are ambassadors of harmony."
He was referring to the 2010 incident in which Puri was mentioning about an incident that happened with him in 2010 when hewas asked by airport officials to remove his turban during a security check at Houston Airport. Puri was asked to wait for over half-an-hour in a ‘holding room’ when he refused to remove his turban.
India then had lodged an official protest with US authorities over the incident.