The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is requiring all new hires to show proof of vaccination prior to being hired with limited exceptions — news that comes as several governors take action, banning the use of vaccine passports in their respective states.
The application page for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department contains a disclaimer reading in bold, “LVMPD is requiring all new hire employees to be vaccinated and to show proof of vaccination for COVID-19 prior to being hired.”
Notably, at the bottom of the application, the department identifies itself as an “equal opportunity employer.”
“All appointments to the competitive service shall be made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, genetic information, military service or political affiliation, and shall be based on merit and fitness only,” the statement reads.
Breitbart News reached out to the department, asking whether there will be any exemptions to this rule. The department confirmed there are, in fact, limited exemptions for religious accommodations, as well as for health and allergy-related issues.
Religious exemptions would be directed to the Employment Diversity Office for vetting, and the exemptions for health/allergy-related issues would be directed to the Health and Safety Section for vetting, the department confirmed.
“We will approach all requests for accommodations with great care for the individual applicant,” the department told Breitbart News.
This week, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stood in opposition to GOP governors, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), and expressed the belief that the federal government should “encourage” the private sector to embrace the use of vaccine passports.
“If a company, a business wants to take steps to keep their workers and their passengers safe, I would think that, from a government perspective, we want to do everything we can to encourage that,” he told FOX 4 Monday, adding that it stands as the view at the federal level.
Despite that, however, a spokesperson for the Department of Transportation clarified that the existing administration “does not support any form of government-mandated vaccine passport.”
Florida has taken the lead in banning the use of vaccine passports in both the private and public sectors. DeSantis signed a bill banning their use in May.
“In Florida, your personal choice regarding vaccinations will be protected and no business or government entity will be able to deny you services based on your decision,” the Republican governor said at the time.
He ultimately scored a major political victory against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which he accused of thrusting vaccine passports on the cruise industry — a major economic driver in the Sunshine State. Last week, the federal district court in Tampa “ruled in favor of Florida’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction, concluding the CDC’s guidelines ‘are likely unconstitutional and overstepping their legal authority’ and claiming a ‘startlingly magnified power,'” as Breitbart News detailed.
Prior to that, DeSantis scored another victory, as Royal Caribbean announced it would require all guests 16 and older departing from U.S. ports to be vaccinated, making an exception for Florida ports.
Alabama, Arizona, and Arkansas are among other states that have taken action against the use of vaccine passports.