New York Has First Hasidic Police Recruit

Today, the New York City Police Academy has its first Hasidic Jewish police recruit. The New York Post reports that Joel Witriol, a 24-year-old Talmud scholar from Brooklyn, starts his training today. The Police Department has accommodated his religious needs by granting Witriol an exemption from its hairstyle rules so he can keep his beard and his peyot, and it will excuse him from working on the Jewish Sabbath and holidays. When Witriol graduates, he will be only the third Hasidic police officer in the country.