While former Alabama Justice Roy Moore has been removed from office due to controversy surrounding a religious display in a public building, the New York City Police Department is displaying a copy of the Muslim Quran in the lobby of its headquarters.

According to Newsday, the holy book was placed in a glass cube atop a brass pedestal at the beginning of the Muslim month of Ramadan, which began Oct. 27. The display is featured near the Hall of Heroes and is placed in front of the official police seal.

Donna Lieberman, the New York Civil Liberties Union executive director, warned against government promotion of religion, saying the Quran display likely violates the Constitution.

"I think that the government, including the Police Department, cannot engage in religious promotion," she told the paper. "There's a vast difference between promoting religion and in educating police officers about religions so that they understand and are sensitive to various values and beliefs."

Continued Lieberman: "It is not always clear where the line is drawn. But when the government engages in promoting religion, that crosses the line."

According to the report, the NYPD has eight chaplains of various faiths.

One of those chaplains, Imam Izak-El Mu'eed Pasha, spearheaded installation of the Quran display. He told Newsday police work makes religion a central part of police life.

"By the nature of the job, they have to have some faith," he told the paper. "There's no way to do it without having faith."

Pasha said it would be "wrong" for the department to prohibit such a display based on church-state separation concerns.

"Without them having faith I think you would have a different police department that probably would not be able to serve all its people in the best way," he is quoted as saying.

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