Police officers wearing religious clothing and beards receive legal protection

In police departments across the region, an increasing number of police officers are wearing beards or religious garments such as hijabs, turbans and kippahs.

That was not always so.

Twenty-five years ago, two Muslim police officers sued the Newark Police Department after being disciplined for growing beards for religious reasons. They argued before the Third District Court of Appeals that a rule requiring police officers to be clean-shaven and allowing only medical exemptions violated their religious freedom.

In his opinion filed on March 3, 1999, Justice Samuel Alito found that the police department “failed to provide a valid reason for denying similar treatment to officers who are required to wear beards for religious reasons.” Alito, now a U.S. Supreme Court justice, concluded that the policy violated citizens’ First Amendment rights.

Shakoor Mustafa, one of the two Muslim officials who filed a lawsuit against the agency, recalled that chants of “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) erupted in the courtroom when the verdict was announced.

“Everyone was excited,” said Mustafa, a devout Muslim who still has a beard. “We came out of the courtroom and I had tears in my eyes.”

“It is important to recognize people’s religious rights,” Mustafa added. “That’s what this whole case was about. It was about people’s religious rights and freedom – I was just enforcing my rights as a citizen as a police officer.”

In recent years, New Jersey law enforcement agencies have faced a growing number of requests for religious exemptions from uniform and grooming requirements as the population and police force have become increasingly diverse. Although federal and state laws protect employees seeking religious concessions, conflicts have arisen over such requests.

Legal protection of religious rights

Under New Jersey’s anti-discrimination law, an employer may be required to allow employees to wear religious clothing or facial hair “provided that doing so does not unreasonably disadvantage the employer’s business.”

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 also requires employers to grant exceptions to their rules or preferences to permit employees to practice religious dress and grooming practices.

Lori Windham, vice president and senior counsel at the Beckett Fund, a nonprofit legal institute focused on religious freedom, said the law is clear: If you make exceptions to beard wearing for medical reasons, you must also make them for religious reasons.

Beckett represented Shakoor and his late colleague Faruq Abdul-Aziz 25 years ago, but most of the cases since then have involved the military, not the police, Windham said.

“We have had cases in the Navy, Army and Marines where members of the armed forces wanted to wear beards while serving their country,” Windham said. “Those cases have been successful.”

“The law provides strong protections for police officers to follow their faith,” Windham added.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police Policy Center also recommends in its guidelines that departments make exceptions for religious and medical reasons. The medical exception typically applies to black police officers who suffer from pseudofolliculitis barbae, a skin condition that makes shaving painful.

Calls for a government directive

Lt. Kamil Warriach, president of the New Jersey-based Muslim American Law Enforcement Association, said that while officers’ requests for beards or religious head coverings have been accommodated, it has not always been easy. Some officers and cadets at the academy have faced delays or resistance, he said.

“People have become lenient about it,” he said. “They don’t want to pursue the issue because people will take it personally and then the executives might retaliate against you.”

In Perth Amboy, a traffic cop sued the police in March for religious discrimination, citing among other things that he faced unreasonable obstacles when he asked to grow a beard, which he said was part of his faith tradition as a Coptic Orthodox Christian. His request was denied for about a year, despite receiving a letter from a priest and verbal requests to dispatch, while two other cops received approval for similar requests within a week, the lawsuit says.

In Jersey City, an officer filed a lawsuit in 2021 alleging harassment and retaliation related to a religious exemption from the dress code. He was granted an exemption to wear a beard, but was reprimanded by a supervisor for his beard, which was deemed too well-groomed.

Warraich said in at least two cases in New Jersey, women have encountered “difficulties” when asked to wear a hijab during training or while on duty as police officers. He called on the state to issue policies or instructions to police departments allowing for religious exemptions to the dress code.

“It’s a problem because it’s left to the discretion of those in charge,” Warraich said. “One solution would be a policy that simply tells everyone that any religious item, like a kippah or a turban for a male Sikh or a head covering for a Muslim or female Sikh, any religious item should be allowed.”

The state attorney general’s office did not respond to a request for comment on state policies or instructions regarding religious dress or beards among police.

Some departments are clarifying their policies to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse police force. For example, Newark announced in 2021 that it would allow women on the police force to wear a headscarf, as part of official policy.

The New York Police Department relaxed its facial hair policies in 2020, two years after reaching a settlement in a class-action lawsuit brought by a Muslim police officer against its beard ban policy. Originally, beards were allowed for all officers, but in May the NYPD revised that policy and again banned beards except for religious or medical reasons.

In the NYPD case and the Newark case 25 years ago, police officials said beards posed a safety risk when wearing protective gear such as gas masks or N95 masks. Lawyers argued that there were already exceptions for medical reasons and for undercover officers.

When asked about safety concerns, Warraich said that police officers do not carry masks and that they are rare or “almost non-existent.”

A government policy would signal that diversity is welcome

Police departments would benefit from a state policy clarifying rules on beards and religious dress because it would signal to different groups that they are welcome in the ranks. At the police academy, a written directive would help because some are afraid to ask for exceptions at the beginning of their training, Warrraich said.

“I talk to a lot of young people and believe it or not, it’s a big deal for them,” Warraich said. “They don’t want to get their beards cut off in the political academy.”

Recalling his case 25 years ago, Mustafa said he felt “naked” when he shaved off the beard he wore in accordance with his Muslim faith when he entered the police academy. He later grew it back when he went undercover to investigate drug deals in Newark.

He had worn it at work for years when the police chief suddenly decided to enforce a 1971 beard ban. He believed it was an act of retaliation from the mayor. He had previously served on the mayor’s security team and said they had had a disagreement.

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