Female police officers in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada will now be allowed to wear a hijab headscarf as part of their uniform.

While the Edmonton Police Service says it does not have any requests for the hijab uniform, which covers the head and neck, the new design is part of the police unit’s attempt to better reflect “the changing diversity in the community, and to facilitate the growing interest in policing careers from Edmonton’s Muslim community,” according to a police press release.

City councilor Scott McKeen told The National Post the new uniform’s approval represents a “gesture of inclusion” for females, who wear the headscarf as an expression of their faith. Male officers in Edmonton can already wear turbans, the Edmonton Journal notes.

“This makes Muslim women part and parcel of that community,” Soraya Zaki Hafez, president of the Edmonton chapter of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, told the outlet. “I think we are a pioneer.”

A division of the EPS worked with a hijab tailor to develop the prototype (below), which fits under the standard police cap. Unlike the traditional headscarf, the police version was designed to be simple and easy to remove with tear-away snaps, the National Post reported.

“After rigorous testing, it was determined that the headscarf did not pose any risk to the officer wearing it, or reduce officer effectiveness, nor interfere with police duties or public interactions,” the press release explains.

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