Police hopeful fired over his long beard
Source: Agencies |
June 11, 2012, Monday
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AN Orthodox Jew who was just weeks away from becoming a New York City police officer said he had been kicked out of the police academy for refusing to trim his beard.
Former recruit Fishel Litzman of Monsey was fired on Friday after multiple confrontations with the department over the length of his whiskers, he told the New York Daily News. Litzman is Hasidic and believes that cutting his beard is forbidden by God.
NYPD rules usually require officers to be clean-shaven. The department makes exceptions for beards kept for religious purposes, but even then only allows 1 millimeter worth of growth.
"I don't understand what the problem would be," Litzman said.
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said the department's rules were reasonable and Litzman was aware of them when he signed up.
Litzman was first cited in January for his unkempt beard.
"I always wanted to be a police officer," said Litzman, a 38-year-old father of five who was once a paramedic.
His attorney, Nathan Lewin, said the police department knew when Litzman applied that he would not trim his beard. And now, Lewin said, it was a case of religious discrimination.
The department hired its first Hasidic officer in 2006 and the force now has at least two dozen Orthodox Jewish officers. They are, like Muslims and Sikhs, allowed to keep their beards for religious reasons but must keep them neat and trimmed.
Former recruit Fishel Litzman of Monsey was fired on Friday after multiple confrontations with the department over the length of his whiskers, he told the New York Daily News. Litzman is Hasidic and believes that cutting his beard is forbidden by God.
NYPD rules usually require officers to be clean-shaven. The department makes exceptions for beards kept for religious purposes, but even then only allows 1 millimeter worth of growth.
"I don't understand what the problem would be," Litzman said.
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said the department's rules were reasonable and Litzman was aware of them when he signed up.
Litzman was first cited in January for his unkempt beard.
"I always wanted to be a police officer," said Litzman, a 38-year-old father of five who was once a paramedic.
His attorney, Nathan Lewin, said the police department knew when Litzman applied that he would not trim his beard. And now, Lewin said, it was a case of religious discrimination.
The department hired its first Hasidic officer in 2006 and the force now has at least two dozen Orthodox Jewish officers. They are, like Muslims and Sikhs, allowed to keep their beards for religious reasons but must keep them neat and trimmed.
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