Tattoos in the Police Field.

[Switchback]

I don't think the FBI is too fond of them and I am not sure about the USSS. I know ATF, ICE and DEA guys with visible tatts. I have full sleeve (USMS).

I am not sure I would be too keen on having my name tatted on me, though... especially if going into DEA where you may do UC (though, I hope you get to keep your shirt on).

[retdetsgt]

I am not sure I would be too keen on having my name tatted on me, though... especially if going into DEA where you may do UC (though, I hope you get to keep your shirt on).

Excellent point, I hadn't thought about that. I was deep U/C for a couple of months buying heroin. The last thing I would have wanted would have been a tattoo that a description of could be communicated among dopers. My greatest asset was that there was nothing about me that could be reasonably told to other dopers. I could change my appearance fairly radically just by shaving/growing a beard/mustache or cutting or growing hair. That was especially important because I made several U/C buys off and on for a couple of years.

A couple of times I had dealers accuse me of being a cop, I shudder to think if they'd asked to look at a forearm or something to see if I had "that tattoo" they heard about. We use tats to ID people, why couldn't they?

Edit to add. Thinking back on it, we didn't used to have a policy I guess. When I started way back, there were several guys I worked around that had one forearm tattoo, but it was a military tattoo of some sort and not that big. It was after they became popular and everybody and their dog started getting multiples that they became an issue.

About 1974, a woman came on that had a tattoo of a small flower on her hand. She was the few woman I had ever known that had any tattoos at all. I remember guys commenting on it a lot, but it didn't bother the personnel office. I suspect they instituted the policy after someone tried to come on with tattoos all over himself. That's where policies like that always come from.....

[HopefulOfficer]

Is it bad when you are 19 and you say, "man was I young and stupid?"