Never tried to shave off a tat. But then, I never had one to try to shave..........

Back in the early 80s I was selling police equipment down in Houston, and a lot of the HPD cadets were buying stuff from us. Every class at their academy had at least one guy who was a body builder, and who tailored his uniforms similarly. I recall one telling me that he would never wear armor because it would "ruin the cut" on his uniform. I told him I never wear my uniform without armor, and he thought I was paranoid. I was soooooo tempted to tell him to drop out of the academy, hire on at the fire department, and try out for the calendar. But I held my tongue........

Chiefs / Sheriffs / Constables who want their officers to look pretty often forget where they came from. I think that officers should look professional, but a lot of nonsense has been foisted off as "professionalism" in the past. Beards are socially acceptable now; no reason cops shouldn't be allowed to wear one, as long as it's neat. I have worked at an agency where mustaches and sideburns were forbidden. That's ridiculous. At one time a state (not Texas) agency required left-handed officers to wear a right handed holster. Uniformity equals professionalism (idiots). I've been stabbed in the neck a couple of times by the seatbelt when those stupid PD and SD pins on my collars lost a clutchback. All of those pins, ribbons, medals, and other assorted foofaraw belong on dress uniforms, not everyday patrol uniforms.

And while I never understood why anyone would want a tattoo, and I think that a lot of these tatted-up guys and gals look really ridiculous, if they are currently in style, police ought to be permitted to wear them. Cops are people, not robots. We don't all have the same likes and dislikes.

yes.

Well .. thank you. And if you show up at my place, Or stop me on the road.... Tatted. Long hair don't care, or a beard. We are good. I could not care less what a LEO looks like.

I live in a retirement community with a large % of vets. Marine myself. Nam, Korea, and some WW 2 folks. I see very few tats.

Would You judge a man on his appearance? It seems to be a thing for the longest war in US history. Kids being sent over there over and over.

In my 13 years as a firefighter/EMT-P and now a Captain, I've never had anyone stop me from helping them when they called us because of my tats. I do work in a military city and I would say people with tattoos out number the ones without.

I'm a vet. I have no tats and no beard. I do agree though that a large % of vets have both. I also would say that plenty of people get judged by appearance. Right or wrong it happens. If I stopped shaving or got some neck tats it would probably have a poor affect on my career.

Probably just the doughnut factor got him on the uniform.

I understand

If I am bleeding out.... Weird Beard can save me. I really do not care. And the kids that did the war are trying to help me .. so much better. They have seen more than most.

While people obsess about how the cops appear, nobody seems to give a damn that the majority of the applicants for law enforcement jobs today are absolutely unprepared for one of the most critical aspects of the job: very few are able to spell, compose a sentence, or write a comprehensive report. Everything a cop does gets documented, and the huge majority of applicants -- all high school grads and quite a few college grads -- were never taught how to do these things in school. It's shameful. I am constantly amazed at the reports I read.

Perhaps we should fix the education system before we worry about the dress codes for cops.

I have a neck tat

Longest war in US history. I respect you.