Police Force Blows £100,000 on Failed Search to Find a Helmet to Cover Sikh Officer’s Turban
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David Wilkes, Daily Mail (London), June 16, 2008
A police force spent £100,000 on a failed attempt to find protective headgear that fits over Sikh officers’ turbans.
West Midlands Police started its search after one Sikh constable decided he wanted to join the counter-terrorist Operational Support Unit.
The man, thought to be in his mid-20s, was refused a place because he was unable to fit the necessary helmet and respirator over his turban and beard, both of which are requirements for strict adherents to his faith.
According to a police source, the unnamed constable claimed he was being discriminated against and was then assigned the task—while on full pay—of sourcing new equipment that would fit.
A helmet and respirator would be needed for certain counter terrorist operations to guard against possible chemical and biological weapons.
The officer contacted manufacturers across the world to see if they could adapt their gear but after 18 months his search ended in vain and he was restored to regular duties.
A few weeks later he is said to have gone on long-term sick leave suffering from stress.
The source, who estimated the total cost of the failed project, including the officer’s wages, at £100,000, said: ‘This was a shocking waste of taxpayers’ cash.’
West Midlands Police today defended the decision to spend the reported £100,000, calling the figure a “gross exaggeration”.
A spokeswoman said: “West Midlands Police is a diverse organisation, which both serves and recruits from a diverse community.
“No Sikh officer has applied and been turned down from joining the Operational Support Unit because of faith issues.
“However, it has been identified that for some members of the Sikh faith, the removal of the turban to wear a helmet and the wearing of a respirator could be problematic.
“As an employer committed to equality and diversity, we are working to try and find a solution to what is a national issue. This worthwhile work continues.”
Turbans consist of around 15ft of cloth wound around the head.
Sikh men wear them to cover their hair, which they leave uncut in accordance with their religion. They often wear their long beards rolled up.
As well as being a sign of spirituality, the turban is also a symbol of Sikh identity and of courage.
Dr Indarjit Singh, director of the Network of Sikh Organisations, said: ‘It is mandatory for adult Sikh men to wear the turban, but there is a dilemma in some areas such as this where the police say wearing the helmet and respirator is absolutely necessary. The officer in question has approached me for advice.
‘He wants to be a good Sikh role model and is very sincere in feeling that he should be allowed to wear the turban at all times.’
Sikh soldiers serving in the British Army refused to wear helmets during the First and Second World Wars.
They fought with their turbans on, several receiving the Victoria Cross for acts of gallantry.
Former West Midlands Police Chief Superintendent John Mellor said the West Midlands scheme was a case of ‘health and safety gone mad’.
He said: ‘If this officer wishes to be in the OSU at his own risk, he should be able to carry out his training and his duties without the protective equipment.
‘If they are going to insist on these precautions, then spending taxpayers’ money looking for a way to get around their own rules is totally ridiculous.’
A force spokesman said: ‘No Sikh officer has applied and been “turned down” from joining the Operational Support Unit because of faith issues.
‘However, it has been identified that for some members of the Sikh faith, the removal of the turban to wear a helmet and the wearing of a respirator could be problematic.
‘As an employer committed to equality and diversity, we are working to try and find a solution to what is a national issue.’
  Operational Support Unit uniform Sikh inside? |
(Posted on June 19, 2008)
Comments
“As an employer committed to equality and diversity, we are working to try and find a solution to what is a national issue. This worthwhile work continues.”
The national issue should be to stop this foolishness. Publc safety is a secular concern. If they don’t want to wear helmets, then let them get their heads smashed, grazed, shot, beat-in, whatever.
Posted by Tom MacDhuie at 6:35 PM on June 19
Go to work on an oilrig cowboy. Hydrogen Sulfide doesn`t care whether your Sikh or not. Only whether your face mask has a tight fit or not. You have under six seconds to change your point of view. And the other roughnecks are under STRICT ORDERS not to assist others but to only get clear themselves.
Posted by Tim Mc Hugh at 8:11 PM on June 19
No kidding its a national issue, 100,000 pounds is a lot of money to be wasted on this silliness.
Posted by Patrick at 8:39 PM on June 19
Sikhs must be quite the tremendous boon for trial lawyers, it seems like about once a month I read about some windfall settlement some Sikh extracts from a municipality or business for not accommodating their long list of religious demands. Many of their religious practices clash quite severely with the modern world like carrying blades in airplanes in whatnot, so the opportunities for litigation are abundant.
Posted by at 10:05 PM on June 19
The wearing of full beards by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards during the 1980-88 war with Iraq caused them to suffer quite terribly in Iraqi gas attacks, as the facial hair prevented their respirators from sealing properly against the skin.
Posted by Michael C. Scott at 11:20 PM on June 19
A waste of taxpayer money. The 100,000 could have used to deport a number of undesirables.. a much better expenditure with much better results.
Posted by Unemployed WASP at 11:38 AM on June 20
Let the Sikhs practice their faith where Sikhs predominate — in India, Pakistan and other countries in that region. What a ridiculous waste of dollars.
Posted by Carl at 12:46 PM on June 20
Id bet in the punjab or wherever sikhs come from, they are required to use normal gear to join these special forces units.
Posted by at 1:47 PM on June 20
” ‘If this officer wishes to be in the OSU at his own risk, he should be able to carry out his training and his duties without the protective equipment.”
And if he gets shot, Cherie Blair and all her anti white attorney friends will sue for millions because the police force failed to find a helmet and respirator.
Posted by at 1:48 PM on June 20
This is another example of the fruits of inbreeding impacting a culture so neurotic it is no longer willing to defend itself against the ludicrous and the absurd…
Posted by at 1:53 PM on June 20
Sikhs did refuse to wear helmets or gas masks during World War One. How many do you suppose were left on the Western Front by Paesschendale, in 1917?
My own suspicion is that Subcontinentals were used mainly against the German positions in Africa, and then the Turks, where they were more used to the local climate and local diseases, and didn’t have the monstrous bombardments.
Posted by Michael C. Scott at 4:59 PM on June 20
I keep thinking I can’t be suprised anymmore by such PC studpidity, but I’m always wrong.
Posted by Jane T. at 6:21 PM on June 20
The turban is not a sikh requirement. There are five K’s that are required, kesh(uncut hair), kada (steel bracelet),katch (Boxer shorts made of cotton), kripan (dagger which can be symbolic sliver of tin)and kang (wooden comb again symbolic) Just as in the US there are many UK lawyers are whores and do it for money.
Posted by Bharathi at 11:43 PM on June 21
Sikhs were useful warriors for the Raj, and perhaps could be useful tools against Islam, but there’s no need for demographically significant numbers of them in the UK or anywhere else in the white West, and most certainly no need for Sikh-izing the larger society.
If they’re not all expelled or paid to leave, they should face a constant barrage of choices emphasizing their status as unwanted aliens, designed to maximize their feelings of being uncomfortable and unhappy, so as to encourage their departure and keep the UK as British as possible, and the larger white West as white as possible.
This study sends precisely the wrong message.
Posted by Irish at 9:55 AM on June 22
The sword or dagger is meant to uphold the rights of the weak and serve as a reminder that Sikhs must always do so. Sikhs came from all castes in northwest India. The usual family name is “Singh” which means “lion”.
Had I my druthers, the Punjab would be independant.
Posted by Michael C. Scott at 3:40 PM on June 22