Metro

Liu: Let Sikh cops wear turbans

Comptroller John Liu yesterday urged the NYPD to allow Sikh officers to wear their religious turbans and beards while on duty.

In a letter to Mayor Bloomberg, Liu noted that the Washington, DC police department recently relaxed its dress code to allow Sikhs to wear beards and religious garb.

Liu’s appeal comes in the wake of the Wisconsin shooting at a Sikh temple and protests that Sikhs have suffered post-9/11 discrimination.

“Our city can enact meaningful inclusion of this community by changing NYPD rules to allow Sikhs to serve without having to forsake their turbans and beards,” Liu said.

“Shouldn’t the NYPD, providing security in one of the most diverse cities in the world, proudly display its own diversity?”

The NYPD defended its current policy as making such religious allowances — to a degree.

“The NYPD makes reasonable accommodations for religious beliefs, and already allows Sikh members of the service to wear turbans that fit under department headgear,” said NYPD spokesman Paul Browne.

Browne said beards are allowed to a certain length. But he added, “Police officers are required to wear emergency equipment, including gas masks that beards of a certain length will break the seal and allow air in a contaminated atmosphere to enter, defeating the mask’s effectiveness.”

ccampanile@nypost.com