After more than a year of tailoring and rigorous stress-testing, New Zealand's Muslim policewomen now have a custom-made hijab as part of their uniform.
The new hijab for Muslim female NZ Police officers. Photo: Supplied / NZ Police
Police and design experts from Massey University developed the garment, and it has attracted international attention with a UK police district trialling the new hijab.
Inspector Braydon Lenihan told Checkpoint the idea got momentum from staff at a careers day in 2018.
"They were getting questions from young Muslim women as to why there was no hijab as part of the uniform, and that they would that they'd be considering a career in the police but that was something that was holding them back.
"So clearly having heard that we started to look around. We looked internationally as to what was available for other police departments, and found that actually there was nothing.
"Women of Muslim faith were having to actually provide their own. We thought this was a bit of a gap and a bit of an area where we could probably be leaders in this space."
Massey University's School of Design played a key part in developing the hijab, he said.
"We developed other parts of uniform for the New Zealand police and having that experience we knew we had to have something that was comfortable, had good fit and functionality… but also that somebody could wear that was comfortable for them for a long duration of time… maybe even a 12 hour shift.
"What came out of that was the material we settled on - a quite a light sports-type material that's moisture wicking, cutting edge in terms of its design and how form-fitting it is for the person, and also some safety features in there to look after our people.
"If an officer is involved in an altercation that involves the hijab being pulled from their heads, if that fastening is too secure, it might not give, and unfortunately that becomes either a choking or dragging risk for our officers.
"So in terms of the clasping mechanism and the release mechanism for that, that was quite key for us in terms of our officers' safety."
The hijab was trialled by several female officers at police national headquarters, to test for fitness and functionality. They were not Muslim women, but were able to give feedback on how well prototypes fitted, Lenihan said.
"Following that we sent it out to the Royal NZ Police College. Some female defensive tactics trainers actually wore it while they were training… and really putting it through its paces."
The hijab is now an official part of the NZ Police uniform, he said.
"Females of the Muslim faith, if they choose to wear the hijab, it is available for them. It is an approved official piece of New Zealand police uniform."
After putting out a press release showing the new item of police uniform, the United Kingdom's Leicestershire Muslim Police Association got in touch saying they were keen to try the hijab there.
"We've been in conversations with them to see how we can provide for their needs and put them in touch both with my team and also the team at the Massey School of Design around the requirements.
"This afternoon we sent across… another three hijabs in the Leicestershire black, which is the colour of their uniform. There's already one hijab over there being worn by a trainee constable.
"I think whenever you can provide something that enables a section of the community that has previously felt like they couldn't be part of the New Zealand Police, or be part of their community, I think to be able to do that is pretty special."
