Head covers will be provided for female Muslim inmates who wear an Islamic veil according to a new Lucas County jail policy.
In recognition of detainees’ religious rights, the sheriff’s office is now issuing covers for use during booking and incarceration at the downtown jail. The women were previously photographed without a headscarf or cover.
These images are public record, and often featured in pamphlets for sale at area businesses. Captain Dave Friddell said it’s wrong to show them in such a way that violates their beliefs.
“If the State Department says you’re OK to take a picture with religious covering, who are we in Lucas County to say it’s not?” Captain Friddell said.
Policy dictates that jail staff take four photographs of these detainees, two with their hijab and two more with the department-issued cover. Female officers will conduct the inmate search in a room out of others’ sight, as before.
The provided white garment, with a thin consistency like a surgical mask or food preparation hat, does not have room to potentially hide contraband, Captain Friddell said.
He could recall only one instance in the past three years in which a Muslim woman entered with a hijab, but said he wants to ensure people’s rights are protected.
Lucas County joins jails in Dearborn, Mich., and Dearborn Heights, Mich., with a similar policy, said Reem Subei, an attorney with Advocates for Basic Legal Equality in Toledo.
Ms. Subei first notified jail officials about altering this policy while serving at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Dearborn. She learned of a woman about a year ago who was required to remove her hijab during booking.
The jail provided her a blanket to cover with instead while incarcerated, she said.
“That was a problem for her because she said the blanket was very thick and very hot,” Ms. Subei said. “It takes away from these people’s dignity because here they are, covering their heads with this thick blanket, in place of what was their scarf.”
A proposal to take booking photos both with the Islamic veil and without, while intending to only publish the former, would not work, she said.
“The mere existence of those photos and taking them at the facility leaves an opportunity for those women’s religious beliefs to not be abided by by them,” she said.
Ms. Subei said this change sends a clear message and aligns with Toledo’s work to become a welcoming city. It gives a sense of dignity and ease that religious protections remain while incarcerated.
Actions like this also fall into the office’s embrace of new policies, including its alternative approaches to treating opioid abuse, Captain Friddell said.
“We’re just a forward-thinking department,” he said.