Tats...

The Honolulu Police Department was weighing a new "no tattoo" policy. I guess the association of the tattoo with the criminal element and fringe of society made some wary of the knights in shining armor bearing ink. I think the end result was that they grandfathered those officers with tattoos in but new recruits are either not to have tattoos or have to cover them up. Wearing long sleeves and long pants in Hawai'i's tropical climate doesn't sound appealing at all. Neither does laser scarring from tattoo removal either. Unlike this officer's relatively sparse Hawaiian and Polynesian motifs, I once saw a young officer with a full sleeve tattoo. I must admit. All my years of interfacing with the criminal element and rock musicians made me look at that officer in a very different way. Fair? No. Justified? No. Did I prejudge him? Yes. And I am not the only one...