Keller issues tattoo taboo for police officers

Keith Paul

Thursday, April 26, 2001 | 11 a.m.

Tattoos and body piercings have moved from the fringe of counterculture into pop culture, with people from athletes and movie stars to students sporting the body art.

But there is one place in Las Vegas where tattoos won't be seen anymore -- on Metro Police officers and civilian employees.

Sheriff Jerry Keller has updated the department's personal appearance policy, changing the simple passage, "Members of the department shall be neat and clean in their appearance in public."

A passage was added, reading, "Employees are prohibited from attaching, affixing or displaying objects, articles or jewelry on or through the nose, tongue, eyebrow or other exposed body parts (except ears for females) while on duty."

Tattoos, brandings and implanted jewelry must be covered while on duty. Undersheriff Richard Winget said the policy, enacted last month, is to ensure that officers and civilian employees look professional.

"We believe it is a reasonable expectation," he said.

Winget said current officer and civilian employees with tattoos that show now must wear long-sleeved shirts or long pants to cover them. New hires will be required to adhere to the policy as a term of employment.

But the civilian employee and police officer unions have filed grievances against the new policy, saying it punishes their members.

"These people were hired under different standards, and we don't want any of them to be adversely affected by the policy," Terri Yada, vice president of the Police Protective Association Civilian Employees, said. "Wearing long sleeves in 110-degree weather, that could be an adverse effect."

Yada said seven union members called requesting the new policy be challenged.

The Police Protective Association, which represents police and corrections officers, also filed a grievance against the policy.

"The bottom line is, as an advocate for the members, if someone came here and was hired and had a tattoo, they shouldn't have to do anything differently just because the department changed the policy," PPA's executive director, Detective Dave Kallas, said.

Union leaders and Metro administrators most likely will sit down soon and discuss the new policy.

Also on Metro's banned list is odd-colored hair. Metro's policy gives examples as purple and orange. And if an officer wants to wear a wig, it must conform to all of the regulations as naturally grown hair.

Most of area's largest employers have policies that prohibit piercings and tattoos that are visible, as well as strangely colored hair.

"We don't allow our employees to have things like nose piercings, and tattoos that show are not OK," said Jenn Michaels, a spokeswoman for MGM MIRAGE, which operates six Las Vegas hotel-casinos employing thousands of people. "On the weekends they can do that, just not in the work place."

Michaels said most large companies, especially those in the service industry, have similar policies.

While Metro officials say they are trying to ensure their employees have a professional appearance, a UNLV professor says tattoos and piercings are more widely accepted.

"It is something turning into the mainstream," said Felicia Campbell, a UNLV English professor and executive director of the Far West Popular Culture Association.

She said people will always take chances, when they get tattoos or piercings that are visible, that businesses will have policies outlawing them.

But to some, the piercings or tattoos can mean something very personal.

"A lot of students tell me how much confidence they gained when they got one," Campbell said. "One young woman who had been bulimic said when she got her tongue pierced, she felt more in control of her body and stopped being bulimic."