It has been announced today that the MET Office has banned police from having visible tattoos as it damages their professional image.
BBC London reported Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe as saying that employees must register details of any body art with line managers, or risk being thrown out of the force.
In the last four years the number of people getting tattoos has rocketed from 29% of 16-44 having tattoos back in 2010 to around 40% having some sort of ink now. It is estimated that there are 20 million people with tattoos in the UK alone.
During this time a stigma has certainly fallen from something that used to be reserved for sailors, the navy and possibly the more uncouth of society. The tattoo has had a checkered past before coming very much into the lime light and to the mainstream.
So popular have tattoos now become that even bad tattoos are almost celebrated as a number of websites have cropped up showcasing inked horrors. More and more people seem to think it’s a good plan to get a Super Mario on them or possibly a cup of tea thinking little to any change of taste in the years to come.
My Tattoo Addiction airs on Channel 4 and looks at the nature of how tattoos have become so popular in recent years and also the addictive nature of them.
So then when everyone has tattoos and the stigma surrounding them is pretty much gone why would the MET still feel that this might undermine them? Surely something that would undermine them more would be having overweight and unfit officers that would have a tough job trying to chase anyone down? This surely might be something to look at before someones personal choice to make a mark on their skin?
My Tattoo Addiction is on at 10pm Channel 4 tomorrow (18th Oct)
