NEW YORK GETS CHASIDIC COP

New York City gets Chasidic cop (JTA)
The New York Police Department recruited what is believed to be its first fervently Orthodox officer. Brooklyn native Joel Witriol, 24, starts his training at the police academy Monday, according to the New York Post. Witriol has a degree from United Talmudical Seminary in Brooklyn, N.Y., and has served as an auxiliary officer in Crown Heights. The department is allowing Witriol to keep his beard and peyos, or sidelocks. Witriol also will be excused from working on Shabbat and Jewish holidays.