Cops won't let women wear niqabs in mugshots

When one is under arrest one has few choices in the arrest process. The mug shot is for idea and a record.

If there are few people wearing them and Wahida Valiante believes people will lift the niqabs for identification purposes, why the hell is she getting all huffy in the first place. It should be a no issue with her shouldn't it?

I firmly believe religion should not trump the law or common sense safety rules. But then again, both have been broken in B.C. to accommodate religions.

I think we should force Muslim women to have their vaginas photographed. They get to cover up everything, so long as they produce a pussy-shot when we demand their papers.

Only 25 in all of Quebec!!?? Seriously? Sounds rather low at first glance

I don't see how this is news. Are there people who seriously argue the woman should be able to wear her niqab for a mugshot. What a stupid country we live in where this even has to be discussed. "Police today issued an all points bulletin for a (presumed to be) woman wanted for terrorist conspiracy. She is described as 160 m tall, shaped like a sack. She has dark eyes, with no other distinguishing features. If you see somebody who fits this description, do not approach them but call police immediately."

More like 25 doing the bitching... there are more, trust me!

It really doesn't matter how many are wearing them whether it warrants talking about it or passing legislation about it or not, the fact its here. And alot of people don't like them.

Even if the number is small, its a big issue in this country. And for once politicians in Quebec anyways, are doing the right thing by giving a voice to these concerns and taking care of it, they are setting a precedent and a message about our culture, yes we have one. Showing your face is part of that.

It's your religion ? Tough shit.

This post made me laugh.

She shouldn't be hard to find if shes 160 meters tall! That's about as tall as a 48 storey building.

I also don't see how this is news. I think most peoplehave assumed, correctly, that if you get yourself arrested you lose a lot of your freedoms, including the freedom to cover your face when id is needed.

As the article said, the police sought the legal opinion because street level cops were posing a "what if?" type question. Now they have their answer, and I doublt anyone in this country disagrees witrh it.

No different from what happens now. Police can not keep records on the race/ethnicity of offenders even if it has a bearing on a description.

How many times have you heard 'two males wearing dark clothing' etc as the suspect 'description'? They could be white,brown,black,yellow, pink but you'll never know because the cops and the media are too afraid to mention colour of skin.

And as for supposedly 'small' groups of burkha clad females. You can see more than 25 burkhas outside the average Mississauga school at 315 pm any school day.

No different from what happens now. Police can not keep records on the race/ethnicity of offenders even if it has a bearing on a description.

How many times have you heard 'two males wearing dark clothing' etc as the suspect 'description'? They could be white,brown,black,yellow, pink but you'll never know because the cops and the media are too afraid to mention colour of skin.

And as for supposedly 'small' groups of burkha clad females. You can see more than 25 burkhas outside the average Mississauga school at 315 pm any school day.

I dunno, out here in the west, descriptions issued by the media often include terms like Asian, Aboriginal. Where it gets confusing is that they don't say white/caucasian/European so when they say nothing you're never 100% sure what they mean.

We don't have a lot of sackwearers out here. Are you sure you mean the Burka/Niqab, or are you just talking about the Hijab, which is no big deal?