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Why a Muslim police officer is suing the NYPD

(The Christian Science Monitor) A Muslim NYPD officer has filed a lawsuit against New York City and its police department, alleging that the department turned a blind eye to years of religion-based harassment from her colleagues.

Danielle Alamrani of Brooklyn joined the New York Police Depart­ment in 2006 and converted to Islam one year later. The reported bullying began in 2008, when she started wearing a hijab to work. In the years since, her lawsuit claims, Alamrani has been subjected to physical and verbal attacks from her fellow officers, including one incident where two colleagues allegedly attempted to rip the hijab off her head.

“You do expect police officers to have thicker skin and be able to deal with other people,” Alamrani’s attorney, Jesse Rose, told the Washington Post. “But you don’t expect them to have do that with their own colleagues.”