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Cops and tattoos.

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I know very passionate soccer fans that seeing the oppositions emblem on a cop might make for an interesting conversation.

That is the root behind a lot of it.
Sports fans generally are not so impassioned in the US, but we did have a man nearly killed in the parking lot of the Dodger Stadium.

But more prevalent is gang activity and the close relationship that ink has with it.
The agency that I mentioned above is in an area of very intense gang activity... potentially worse than South Central Los Angeles, just not as well known.


As far as the photo of the doctor and soldier... Their ink is covered when working, it would not be a problem for any agency I am aware of.
The policies are not "no ink".... the policies are "no ink that is visible to the public when working"
 
cb91710 said:
Different agencies have different policies.
San Bernardino County (largest county in the US) requires that all ink be covered. They make allowances for hot weather and allow short sleeves only if the ink can be covered by bandages or some other cover.

That's sort of true. I work in San Bernardino County and our deputies are NOT required to cover all tattoos. If they are fully sleeved, the majority of deputies opt to cover them with long sleeves, however it isn't mandatory. Just recommended. Any offensive or potentially vulgar tattoos do have to be covered and no exposed tattoos are allowed on the neck or face. Non LE employees are required to cover tattoos, per our County's policy.

I don't mind most of my guys having them as they are a reflection of today's culture and do not negate their ability to do their job. They just have to realize it may hamper them in dealing with some older people who aren't as accustomed to people being tatt'd. (I just got one a few years ago and now I want more ink!)
 
I've got lots of friends with tats. I don't have any myself and kind of put myself in the "who cares if you do or don't" category.
But I tell you this, it doesn't affect how they do their job. If they are lazy bums (and some of them are) then that's who they are.
Some are very well educated and in the top of their fields.

A tattoo is a personal thing. Why you have it is none of my business.
 

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
I just did a google image search for "mom tattoo" for a point I wanted to make here (and will make below ...) but while there were a lot of images of actual tattoos, there was also a cartoon of a guy with a 'mom tattoo" ...

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... I guess that's what we think of guys with tattoos ... no sense having the foxes guarding the chicken coop.


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Anyway ...


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So, there are tattoos ...

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... and then there are tattoos ...

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... and then there are ... um ... tattoos! :scared:

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Most tattoos are simply expressions of one's own personality. Most tattoos are fairly small and moderately discreet ... you get one or two, hey cool ... no big deal.

A few people really take the whole tattoo thing to another level, getting all sorts of stuff all over ... it can be quite elaborate ... not that any of US have an understanding of what an acquisition disorder is like ... :001_unsur

Tattoos, can, however, be used by gangs and inappropriate organisations as means of "marking their territory" and giving the members a visible sign of belonging. Obviously, we don't want to have members of the Hell's Angels, the Bloods, the Crips, or the Illinois Nazi Party (I hate Illinois Nazis, btw) in the police force, and we don't want those tattoos on the cops either. "Aw, man, I used to be one of those, but I changed, man!" ... well, you can't be a cop if you have a criminal record, either.



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One more thought ...

Generally speaking, we expect our police officers to be bulwarks of law and order. In days past (and to some extent today) we look for them to be "clean-cut, wholesome, decent" boys (and girls nowadays) like John and Ponch on CHiPs, rather than thugs and louts who have been given a badge and a gun and a passing familiarity with right and wrong. Certainly in decades past, having a tattoo was a pretty good indication that someone was likely to have at least associated with, and perhaps belonged to, the wrong one of those two groups.

(I rather suspect that there was a lot of blind-eye-turning to guys just out of the service with "USMC" or whatever tattoo'd on their arms and the like ... a bit of "just keep your sleeves rolled down, sailor" ... that other guys wouldn't get.)

So, you can see where the idea came from.

Of course nowadays, the reality is a bit different. Personally, I don't care if a guy has a few tattoos or not, and I suspect that a lot of other people feel the same (but back in the 50s or whenever we'd have all been much more opposed.)
 
That's sort of true. I work in San Bernardino County and our deputies are NOT required to cover all tattoos.
Might have been SBDO City. It was a few years ago it was in the news and I remember some of my customers in the area talking about it, but I don't recall if they were city or county employees.
 
I just did a google image search for "mom tattoo" for a point I wanted to make here (and will make below ...) but while there were a lot of images of actual tattoos, there was also a cartoon of a guy with a 'mom tattoo" ...

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Conversely... when I was growing up, when someone said "tattoo" my first thought was of a sailor (even though my dad, WWII Vet, Petty Officer 1st Class, has no ink).
 
View attachment 266286he could be the one who saves your life why should his tattoos matter?

That picture illustrates what the issue is all about. Same guy, but displaying two very different visual appearances. One quite professional, the other a style that could mean he's a trouble maker? And that's where it is with police departments. They want their officers to look professional and trustworthy.
 
the pics I posted were more of an image of the tattoos do not make the man/women, When it boils down to it I feel tattoos, piercings how they dress does not affect them as a person, its another form of prejudice against somebody who is not status quo. Now I love neck tattoos and hand tattoos which I do not have for work reasons because I can hind all my tattoos with long sleeves and wish I could get them but understand why I cant, and do feel face tattoos are a little over board but even the ones who have them as long as the person is doing there job who am I to say anything. If I am dealing with a cop its because I did something I should not of done or somebody did something to me that I didnt want them to do and the fact that he has tattoos will be the last thing I will be thinking about. Just as I dont judge people for color ,sexual preferences, tattoos or shaving habits I wish people would do the same. I know thats in a perfect world but I also feel that ideas are contagious and if a few people think that way more and more will catch on. I have a full sleeve plus multiple tattoos on my legs back other arm and chest and 13 piercings which I do not wear them all at one time but rotate them as I feel, I do get allot of looks and comments all the time good and bad I know what it feels like to walk into a room/store and have people look at you. cop, doctor, **** shoveler who cares. " today you are you, that is truer then true, there is no one alive who is youer then you."< words to live by
 
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What if the cop you thought was tattoo less was of duty and wore a singlet or took his shirt of and has some markings that you didn't like or were 50/50? If he/she wasn't a cop I couldn't care less but I think for the general public it might be better they come into the force tattless.

Sometimes a marking and its meaning will only be know by a minority and cause massive dramas if 2 opposing forces meet, markings like these would be missed by captains in the force trying to judge what's appropriate and what's not.
 
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Used to be only convicts and drunken sailors had tattoos. It has now become a vehicle of self expression. I'm OK with anything that conforms to accepted social norms. Gangsta tatts, illegal drug use, not on police whose job is to uphold the law. So, "Jesus Saves" might be OK to some, but "Allah hu Akbar" God is Great in Arabic might seem threatening to others. Since it would be arbitrary, and time consuming, have to pass judgment on every bit of self expression, you have to ban them all, or accept them all. Banning makes the most sense.



There's a professional cyclist, David Clinger who got a very cool full head tattoo. Problem was he never considered that maybe his sponsor might not want that image... I don't know what he is doing now.

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Tattoos, can, however, be used by gangs and inappropriate organisations as means of "marking their territory" and giving the members a visible sign of belonging. Obviously, we don't want to have members of the Hell's Angels, the Bloods, the Crips, or the Illinois Nazi Party (I hate Illinois Nazis, btw) in the police force, and we don't want those tattoos on the cops either. "Aw, man, I used to be one of those, but I changed, man!" ... well, you can't be a cop if you have a criminal record, either.

For Nazis I would just as soon they all had a swastika tattooed right on the old forehead, so they 're easier to spot, ya know?
 

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
Just as I dont judge people for color ,sexual preferences, tattoos or shaving habits I wish people would do the same. I know thats in a perfect world but I also feel that ideas are contagious and if a few people think that way more and more will catch on.

Noble sentiments, for sure.

I suppose, the difference is that we can choose to get a tattoo or not ... and how many, what of, and so forth. We can't choose whether we're born white, black, yellow, red, brown, ... I think it's obligatory to throw in "purple" here, but I've never met anyone purple.

Still, it's a pretty major decision, and I suppose closer to "choice of religion" than "choice of t-shirt", in terms of "I don't really have a choice, 'cause I have to be true to myself" and so forth.

Anyhow, ...

One of the common themes one encounters in the subject of tattoos is what I'll call (in edited format to avoid "NSFW") the "Bad@$$ Factor". (Y'all know what the @$$ stands for, right? Yeah, I thought so.) I'll call it "BA" ... like on the A-Team.

As often as not, when a guy gets a tattoo, he's thinking "oh man, this is so BA" or some such BA-related thing. He wants everyone who sees him to think how BA he is. Now, can this 'blanket statement' be applied equally (or at all) to everyone who gets a tattoo? Why, of course not. I don't even know if a majority of tattoo wearers ever had 'the BA impulse' ... but it's there in a significant number, and it's what I'll call a "known factor" in the tattoo equation.

No one ever said "oh wow, you're Lutheran? That's pretty BA, man!"

Lots of guys have said "wow, that's a pretty BA tat, man!" (Apparently, it's not BA to call it a tattoo. That's for squares, man.)

So ... all the tat-wearing guys out there who want everyone to ignore their tats (see how I'm picking up the BA lingo? Man, I'm so BA) when judging the content of their character (and not the augmented colour of their skin) are up against the OTHER tat-wearing guys who WANT the tattoo (oh, and just like that I'm a square again) to be a sign to all the world as to what a BA content their character has.
 
DOC4 to your statements above from the mind of a man who loves tattoos the guy who has one or two tattoos wears them as a badge of honor usually the person pics his ink very carefully it HAS to mean something dear to them or have deep meaning behind it and likes to show it off as much as possible because they are proud of the ink or what it stands for.

then you have people who have many tattoos because they love the art of tattoos. Me personally I love to look at my arms and seeing my ink. I hate the fact that I only have one sleeve and can not wait to get my other arm finished because I feel more "whole" with my tattoos, almost a security blanket if you will. I remember getting a tattoo on my wrist one of my first and the artist wanted to face it pointing towards my palm I wanted it facing me he says " but it will be upside down when people look at it" I remember telling him I dont care about people seeing it, Its for me to look at. I dont mind people looking at my tattoos just as the guy with one or two I am proud of my art some more then others, some I should of thought harder about or of placement but I still do not regret them.

its not a matter of we want people to ignore our tattoos but more or less do not judge our character based on our tattoos alone. To the comment made about looking clean cut and trust worthy. $106hbundy.jpg books are not best judged by their cover.
 

Legion

Staff member
Are army personnel allowed to show tatts while in service?

As I said, I'm not sure about showing them, but some of my mates have their blood type tattooed. I got the impression it was encouraged.

All the old navy guys I've known have had tattoos on their arms.
 
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