POLICE Scotland have ordered recruits to ‘declare their tattoos’ if they want to join the national force.
Bosses announced they were on the hunt for new recruits on their Facebook on January 24.
But hopefuls must fill in a detailed description of their body art and hope it meets a strict set of criteria.
New guidance says tattoos “are not necessarily a bar to appointment” but must not be “garish”, “rude, lewd or crude”.
Before April last year individual police forces across Scotland made their own rules on what tattoos were acceptable and whether they could be on show.
But after the forces were scrapped to form Police Scotland, national rules were drawn up.
Candidates are warned: “Some tattoos could potentially offend members of the public or colleagues, or could bring discredit to the police service.
“It depends on their size, nature and location, and sometimes on the extent.”
Candidates are then told that “if you have tattoos, you should describe their nature, words, extent, size and location”.
Guidelines are issued about what would not be acceptable such as if they “are on the hands, face, neck or above the collar line.”
But if the tattoos are judged to be “garish”, “racist” or “sectarian”, they will not be accepted.
Any tattoos, regardless of language or symbolic format, that undermine the dignity or authority will not be allowed either.
Tattoo artist, Sean Guthrie from Rapport Tattoo in Aberdeen said they need to make it clear what this new guidance will mean for current officers who already have body art.
He said: “I think that if the tattoos are going to be on show then it’s fair enough but to ask people before they even have the job to announce every tattoo is insane.
“They also need to make it clear what this will mean for current officers who already have tattoos.
“A lot of what we do is art and can get quite graphic but should we be discriminating in this day and age when personal choice is so prevalent?”
A spokesman for the Scottish Police Federation, who had previously labelled orders for officers to cover up as “draconian”, said bosses were finalising their definition discussions.
He said: “What they’re trying to do is define and clarify what is acceptable. There’s a whole range of issues that can vary between person to person.
“They’ve got to set a standard and that’s what they’re working towards.”
Tattoo Criteria:
Tattoos, regardless of language or symbolic format, are not acceptable if they:—
• Are on the hands, face, neck or above the collar line.
• Undermine the dignity and authority of the office of constable;
• Could cause offence to members of the public or colleagues and/or invite provocation;
• Are garish, extensive or particularly prominent;
• Indicate unacceptable attitudes towards any individual or section of the community
• Indicate alignment with a particular group which could give offence to members of the public or colleagues;
• Are considered to be rude, lewd, crude, racist, sexist, sectarian, homophobic, violent or intimidating.
