From police headquarters
T he first official Toronto Police Service (TPS) kippah was introduced during a Hanukkah gathering in December, where it was announced members are now wel- come to wear one on the job, if they so choose. The policy put the TPS in line with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Ontario Provincial Police—along with the Vancouver Police Department—whose mem- bers were first permitted to wear Jewish
skullcaps when on duty in 2022, to match the status previously granted to turbans and hijabs for Skih and Muslim officers, respectively. The new kippah gained additional resonance when Chief Myron Demkiw presented it at a TPS board meeting after detailing the post-Oct. 7 surge in antisem- itic hate crimes. Inspector Paul Rinkoff, the highest-profile Jewish cop in Toronto (statistics aren’t kept on the total number
of them) worked with B’nai Brith on the details of this uniform addition, and wore it himself to several religious events in- cluding ones he attended during a recent immersion experience in Crown Heights, New York. “It’s been rewarding for me to meet Jewish TPS members who’ve contacted me to receive their kippah,” says Rinkoff. “It also sends a message to communities that we’re respectful of all faiths—and we are hiring!” n
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