AUSTIN - The state has ordered its troopers to cover up any tattoos in a move intended to preserve the officers’ clean-cut image. Last week, the Texas Department of Public Safety began requiring the state’s almost 2,700 uniformed troopers to hide any visible tattoos or brandings while on duty.
While it’s tough to mount an argument against DPS’ new policy, I can’t help but wonder how far this public-input thing is going to go. And just how much of a threat to public decency is a tattoo? After all. a lot of DPS troopers are ex-military, and tattoos are to the military what poles are to strippers. Ultimately, then, doesn’t this policy really dishonor those who have served in our nation’s armed forces and indulged in some alcohol-fueled body art?
It’s also true that body art is more of a generational thing, so one might also reasonably wonder if this isn’t merely an exercise in generational prejudice directed at younger DPS troopers?
I understand that DPS wants it’s troops to present a clean-cut image to the taxpayers of Texas, and I think that’s largely a good thing. This isn’t the military, though, so shouldn’t a little bit of individual expression be acceptable? I’m not sure I have the answer to that question; I just think that proscribing tattoos is rather silly and can send the wrong message to DPS troopers. We need these folks to enforce the laws of Texas, not walk, talk, look, and act the same. Individualism is not necessarily a bad thing…even at DPS.
