Teh One Who Knocks
06-12-2012, 09:40 PM
Denied admission, Brooklyn man says department denied right to religious freedom by asking views on homosexuality
By Barbara Ross / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
A Pakistani Muslim is suing the NYPD because he says he was denied admission to the Police Academy in part because he told a police shrink that gays are “criminals.”
The 23-year-old applicant, who is from Brooklyn but was not identified in court papers, argues in a suit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court that the NYPD violated his constitutional right to religious freedom by asking for his views on homosexuality.
His lawyer, Jerold Levine, said that in a 2009 written application the man answered “yes” to the question: “Should homosexuals be locked up?”
In a followup interview, the applicant told an NYPD psychologist that homosexuality is “against his religion” and that “homosexuals are criminals.”
Departmental brass decided “this bias” could have “significant disruptive consequences” for dealing with gays on the street and within the NYPD, court papers show. For those reasons, as well as his work and academic record, he was rejected on two occasions.
The applicant, who serves as an auxiliary cop, wants the NYPD to reconsider its decision. A department spokesman declined to comment on the suit.
By Barbara Ross / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
A Pakistani Muslim is suing the NYPD because he says he was denied admission to the Police Academy in part because he told a police shrink that gays are “criminals.”
The 23-year-old applicant, who is from Brooklyn but was not identified in court papers, argues in a suit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court that the NYPD violated his constitutional right to religious freedom by asking for his views on homosexuality.
His lawyer, Jerold Levine, said that in a 2009 written application the man answered “yes” to the question: “Should homosexuals be locked up?”
In a followup interview, the applicant told an NYPD psychologist that homosexuality is “against his religion” and that “homosexuals are criminals.”
Departmental brass decided “this bias” could have “significant disruptive consequences” for dealing with gays on the street and within the NYPD, court papers show. For those reasons, as well as his work and academic record, he was rejected on two occasions.
The applicant, who serves as an auxiliary cop, wants the NYPD to reconsider its decision. A department spokesman declined to comment on the suit.