Deputy Navdeep Singh Nijjar was 14 years old when his family moved from his native home of Punjab, India, to Houston, Texas, in 2000. He had family in Texas, so he knew enough about U.S. culture to know that things would be different. He was also aware that people in Texas would be challenged by the way he looked.

Deputy Nijjar understood that very few people in the United States knew about his religion, Sikhism. But his religious identity was important to him, and he wanted to maintain his traditional Sikh appearance, including his turban and facial hair. He wondered, though, if practicing his religion faithfully might prevent him from realizing his childhood dream of serving and protecting the community as a law enforcement agent. His worries included uniform policies and restrictions, concerns that grew substantially after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

I came to this country just before 9/11, so most of my time here has been marked by people calling me a terrorist just because I have a turban, beard, and brown skin. I always did my best to integrate and most of the people in my schools accepted me as normal. I played on the soccer team, I joined different clubs, and I participated in all my classes. But people who didn’t know me, like those who saw me on the street, would sometimes say racist stuff to me. And it reminded me that, for some people, I was always going to be seen as a foreigner who didn’t really belong here.¹

Despite these negative experiences, Deputy Nijjar said he never really felt compelled to abandon his religious identity because of how much Sikhism has meant to him and his family.

My parents came to America to build a better life for us. They sacrificed so much so that we could have all the freedoms and opportunities that we didn’t have in India. Why would I disrespect all of their efforts just to make life a little bit easier?

The Sikh turban, which is the most visible aspect of Sikh identity, is a long piece of cloth that one wraps around their head every morning. In South Asian culture, it was historically a symbol of power and worn only by royalty; kings wore turbans to mark their supreme status. The Sikh religion teaches that all people are equal. The founders of Sikhism, whom Sikhs refer to as gurus, called on all of their followers to start wearing turbans. This move not only equalized the playing field; it also empowered all Sikhs to believe that they were just as royal and sovereign as kings and queens.

Deputy Nijjar’s commitment to wearing his turban came with consequences. He experienced racism in public spaces, on the soccer field, and even in the privacy of his own car. Yet, the more he learned about his Sikh faith and its core values of love, service, equality, and justice, the more convinced he became that he wanted to keep wearing his turban and show the world that one could be both an American citizen and an observant Sikh.

I learned in school since coming here that all Americans have a responsibility to serve the people around them and to make our world a better place. It was very similar to what I always learned in Sikhism —that we are all expected to do selfless service (seva) and that every good Sikh is supposed to be a saint-soldier (sant-sipahi), someone who focuses on spiritual development and community justice at the same time.

The idea of public service appealed to Deputy Nijjar. He had always enjoyed helping others, even as a boy in India, where he was known among his classmates for his generosity and kind spirit. Deputy Nijjar always knew he wanted to serve in the military or law enforcement, and this feeling crystallized while he was a high school student in Texas. He had a positive experience with police officers after a minor car accident in 2003 and was touched by how they treated him and his friends with respect and dignity when so many others did not. That interaction left an impact and helped convince Deputy Nijjar to serve his local community in Houston.

I learned in school since coming here that all Americans have a responsibility to serve the people around them and to make our world a better place.

Navdeep excitedly talked to his teachers, friends, and family about his new goal  to serve with the Houston Police Department. Though he didn’t know of any officers who looked like him, he watched police television shows and movies and read all the books about law enforcement that he could get his hands on. Navdeep found himself daydreaming about serving and protecting his fellow Texans. But, after a few years of dreaming and planning, Navdeep discovered a flaw in his plan that he had wondered about years before—he was a practicing Sikh, and the Houston Police Department had uniform policies that barred him from working for the department while also maintaining his Sikh turban and beard.

Navdeep decided to pursue a degree in accounting instead, and after graduating from college, he took a job as an accountant. He never gave up his dream of being a police officer, though, and he continued to discuss this plan with his close friends. With no observant Sikh role model already on the police force,  it was unclear the police department would change their uniform policy for him. The one thing he was clear on was that he did not want to make the impossible choice of compromising his faith to pursue his dream.

In 2013,  the Sikh Coalition—the largest Sikh civil rights organization in the United States— helped Navdeep file a religious accommodations request so that he could serve with another law enforcement agency, the Harris County, Texas, Sheriff’s Office, with his beard and turban intact. The original uniform policy required all officers to maintain consistency in hair and facial hair, but Navdeep knew that maintaining his turban and beard would in no way impact his ability to protect and serve others. This request came to former Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia, who welcomed the request with open arms. Unbeknownst to Navdeep, Sheriff Garcia had already asked his staff to explore the possibility of bringing a Sikh onto their police force.

“Prior to becoming a sheriff, I had always enjoyed beautiful and real relationships with different segments of the community,” said Sheriff Garcia.²

When I became sheriff, I came in with the idea that we would continue to build those relationships. So one day, I was looking at a magazine and I see a picture of a US military officer who was part of the Sikh community and was wearing his turban and beard. I immediately called my staff over and told them: “Look, if the federal government can figure out how to do this, then so can we.”

Sheriff Garcia’s staff connected with U.S. military officers to find out what it would take to open its doors to observant Sikhs. They confirmed, for instance, that gas masks would seal properly over Sikh facial hair and then quickly acted on what they learned by updating their policies and ordering new equipment.

Sheriff Garcia’s investment paid off immediately, in part because of a happy coincidence. While Navdeep worked to institute the policy change with the help of the Sikh Coalition, Sheriff Garcia learned that an officer already on his force, Sandeep Dhaliwal, came from a Sikh background. Deputy Dhaliwal had shaved his beard and abandoned his turban in order to comply with the uniform policy.

“I talked to [Deputy Dhaliwal] immediately and told him that we had created this new policy to enable Sikhs to serve,” said Sheriff Garcia.

I invited him to start wearing his turban again and to let his beard grow. I had some real reservations though, not because it would be bad for us. I worried that it might put him in harm’s way. As officers, we are already vulnerable every time we put on our uniforms. Deputy Dhaliwal would be even more vulnerable with his turban and beard because of ignorance from the general public and even from our own department.

Deputy Dhaliwal thoughtfully listened to Sheriff Garcia’s invitation and went back to discuss the opportunity with his wife. He returned shortly with a decision—he welcomed the chance to reclaim his identity as the first turbaned Sikh officer in the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

Shortly thereafter, Deputy Nijjar completed his own training and joined the same force. Now, because of Sheriff Garcia’s vision and leadership, there are more young Sikhs in Texas following in their footsteps. Amrit Singh joined the Explorers program with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office at the age of 14, and he has now achieved the rank of major, the highest in the program.

When I first joined, people would sometimes say things to me about why I was out of uniform or wearing a turban, but my adviser would always help me, and he would always defend me, especially around the cops. That experience made me more thick-skinned, and it also helped me learn how to stand my ground more. It was hard, but I appreciate the experience now.³

Singh, who is now 19, explained that growing through the Explorers Program has allowed him to open up the eyes of other young people.

One of the greatest things for me is realizing that I am helping other kids live out their dreams. Sikh kids can look up to me and Navdeep and Sandeep and see that they can do anything they want—including being an officer—without having to compromise their faith. I never saw that when I was a kid, and that’s such a powerful thing.

Sheriff Garcia offered a similar reflection on why this particular policy change was so personal and important to him, despite not being a Sikh himself.

I’m Hispanic, and there was a time when people from my background, and people who were black were not allowed to join police departments. I think that was wrong, and I think that today most people would agree with me. I think the same thing is true for Sikhs and for other minorities today—and it’s our job to help them get equal footing like other people did for us

Many officers and community members opened their minds to different cultures, while others overcame negative stereotypes.

Sheriff Garcia explained that having Sikhs on his force had been valuable for everyone, including other officers on his team . Many officers and community members opened their minds to different cultures, while others overcame negative stereotypes. In the diverse community that the officers serve, they saw an increase in community trust and were able to forge deeper respect for the communities they protect that look different than many of the officers.

Sheriff Garcia also explained that changing the policy to be more inclusive seemed like a natural thing to him because he had seen how other law enforcement agencies had updated their policies to overcome discrimination over time.

Some rules were created at a time when we weren’t really thinking about other people from different backgrounds But, times change, and we have to change with them, especially if we care about respect and diversity and inclusion. And we really should care about those things because those are key to serving our communities.

The Harris County, Texas, Sheriff’s Department is not the only law enforcement agency to undertake these policy changes in recent years. According to Sheriff Garcia, one of his prouder moments came when he received a call from the New York City Police Department (NYPD), the United States’ largest police department, asking for guidance on how to update its own policies to better accommodate Sikh officers. Shortly after their 2015 conversation, the NYPD announced its new policies in 2016, which substantially improved the ability of Sikh officers to serve while maintaining their faith.

For Sheriff Garcia,  the policy change is about ensuring that all people can serve their communities.

I care about this because it will make my police department stronger and my local communities stronger. I also care about this because it’s an important thing to do for my officers. And, ultimately, I care because it’s the right thing to do, and it really makes a difference—and what a great legacy that is to leave your communities.

 Notes:

¹ Navdeep Singh Nijjar (deputy, Harris County Sheriff’s Office), telephone interview, August 2, 2018.²

² Amrit Singh (major, Explorers, Harris County Sheriff’s Office), August 2018.

³ Adrian Garcia (former sheriff, Harris County Sheriff’s Office), telephone interview, August 15, 2018. — Telephone Interview, August 15, 2018.

Please cite as

Simran Jeet Singh, “The Positive Impact of Religious Diversity on a Police Force,” Police Chief Online, January 9, 2019.