Tattooed cops

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Strange News - AP

Police Chief Cracks Down on Tattoos

Wed Jul 14, 8:10 PM ET


By JESSICA GRESKO, Associated Press Writer

SAN DIEGO - The police chief in the nation's seventh-biggest city is cracking down on his own officers' tattoos.

Effective Wednesday, San Diego police officers with "excessive" body art must cover it up with long sleeves or turtlenecks while on the job. Hot summer temperatures won't be an excuse.

"For 37 years in this business, I have never worn anything but long-sleeve shirts with a tie. I think it's the way officers ought to look," said Chief William Lansdowne, who announced the policy in a long-sleeve shirt and a tie.

The new policy, outlined in a five-page memo, is expected to affect half a dozen of the department's more than 2,000 officers, police spokesman Dave Cohen said.

Lansdowne, who took over the department last year, said he believes San Diegans deserve a professional, well-groomed force. He said the new policy — which also covers piercings, branding and decorative scarring — will help project that image.

The rules say tattoos covering more than 30 percent of the exposed skin of a uniformed officer must go undercover. So must tattoos that rise above the collarbone and any tattoo depicting nudity, violence, or profanity. Ditto for racist tattoos, Nazi insignia, pentagrams and gang symbols.

Lip, eyebrow, tongue and nose piercings are out. Uniformed women get one earring per ear on duty (keep it in the earlobe, please). Men get none.

The head of the union representing San Diego police didn't object to the rules but said he had hoped officers who already have large tattoos would be exempted.

"We have officers that have military tattoos, that have flowers," said San Diego Police Officers' Association President Bill Farrar. "It's more prevalent now."

Other California police departments have similar regulations. Los Angeles requires officers to cover their tattoos. The New York Police Department, however, has no rules on the books specifically prohibiting tattoos.
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Whatever, I kinda agree with the chief, but my question is:

Why would he hire police officers with visible "racist tattoos, Nazi insignia, pentagrams and gang symbols" in the first place? :confused:
 
Gonz said:
Lawyers
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Yeah, but police officer candidates have to take a psychological profile test or something, right? You would think that somebody with racist or Nazi tattoos would have some issues . . .
 
Police women get to wear ear-rings? Damn...they're not allowed that over here. It's too tempting a target for pulling...the same reason why cops wear tear-away/clip-on ties only.
 
it's funny that they said pentagrams are offensive.
only because they're offensive to people who don't know what they mean,
and those people are offensive to other people.

it's a never-ending cycle of offensive-ness.
 
I don't have any tatoos, I don't care for ink all that much. I have never seen any art I would hang on my wall for the rest of my life not to mention on my body.

Ever see a 60 year old woman with 30 year old tatoo blurs? yucci

I think it would degrade the uniform, the duty charged.

cardecals.jpg


ash r said:
it's funny that they said pentagrams are offensive.
only because they're offensive to people who don't know what they mean,
and those people are offensive to other people.

it's a never-ending cycle of offensive-ness.
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What does the pentgram mean to you? (just curious)
 
ash r said:
it's funny that they said pentagrams are offensive.
only because they're offensive to people who don't know what they mean,
and those people are offensive to other people.

it's a never-ending cycle of offensive-ness.
Click to expand...

You got that right. People fear the unknown - but the pentagram conjures up (for lack of a more appropriate phrase) images of satanic worship. That doesn't sit well with a large portion of the population, right or wrong.

I personally don't have any tattoos, but a lot of my friends have them. My next-door neighbor's arms are covered with tattoos, and he did them all himself, since the 1950s. It's really cool-looking, in a kitschy kind of way, but each piece represents an event in his lifetime, so right there in plain view is the story of his life.

Tattoos don't make a person evil - that comes from within - but one has to wonder why a person would advertise racist or Nazi points of view. The point of my OP was that anyone who has racist tattoos or Nazi insignia tattoos might not be fit to be a police officer.

:cool:
 
ResearchMonkey said:
*snip

I think it would degrade the uniform, the duty charged.

*snip
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Exactly. Particularly racist, gang, or Nazi insignia.

Pentagrams mean nothing to me, although some see them as symbols of satanic worship.

(Great photo - I'm going to send that to our county sheriff. :D )
 
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