This report is part of a series of stories focusing on items of interest emerging from notes being taken by Wichita Documenters. The program trains and pays residents to take notes at government meetings.
by Jacinda Hall and Wichita Documenters
If you aspire to become an officer for the Wichita Police Department, you might want to give some advance thought to where you put any tattoos you get.
Not to mention what you decide to include in the design. But a little bit of ink won’t necessarily stop you from being able to don a uniform.
Concerned residents raised attention on Wichita Police’s tattoo policy to the Citizens Review Board during their September meeting, saying that the current language was preventing some people from applying to the police academy. The board works with police on community outreach and advises the department.
Board Member Gregory VanDyke couldn’t recall specifics, but a resident shared with him that a knuckle tattoo was an issue for someone considering a job on the force..
That’s a concern for some because it’s been a challenge to maintain department staffing in recent years. In May 2023, The Journal reported that Wichita’s police department was 66 officers short and facing a “retention crisis.”
Even retention bonuses couldn’t prevent dozens of officers from leaving, The Wichita Eagle reported the following January.
According to public information officer Kristopher Gupilan, the department currently has 47 commissioned openings.
While the police department declined to comment on the discussion itself, they did email the tattoo policy to us, stating that the department has allowed tattoos for years.
The department’s policy states that: “Visible tattoos/markings are permitted only after an employee has submitted (a) request for approval of visible tattoos/markings with accompanying photographs and the immediate supervisor and chain have approved them of command.”
The policy also states that “Though visible tattoos are permitted, tattoos/markings displaying any type of offensive design, logo, or wording must not be visible while on duty in uniform or civilian clothing regardless of what the tattoo/brand represents.”
The department prohibits tattoos on the head, neck or hands while an officer is on duty in uniform or in civilian clothing unless otherwise approved by the chief of police.
The policy also says that those with unapproved tattoos or ones with any type of offensive design, logo or wording will be required to cover up with a colored athletic band or long sleeve shirts or pants authorized by the department.
That would be the easy way out. Another option would be for prospective officers to have their tattoos removed. But that’s not a small, or cheap, commitment.
Wichita Laser Clinic owner Stephanie Russell explains that a tattoo removal can take several sessions and the cost goes up depending on the size of the tattoo and whether it is homemade or professionally done.
“Homemade tattoos can take anywhere between one and five sessions,” Russell said. “Typically a professional tattoo, nine to 13 sessions.”
Russell said the tattoo removal process is lengthy.
“You’re going through layers of ink … when someone does a tattoo with a professional artist, it is meant to be permanent and so that’s injected deeper into the skin and we have to remove it layer by layer,” Russell said. “The first session you have to ease into it, treat that very top layer, those particles break down into smaller pieces after we hit it with the laser and then the body has to carry that out.”
Russell said that it can take several weeks or even months for the body to move the ink out.
“We wait a minimum of eight weeks in between sessions,” Russell said. “We usually do eight to 12 weeks in between every session, so given that, it usually takes a couple years to remove a professional tattoo because of the time in between.”
Russell says that she sometimes sees those on the police force that look to remove tattoos because they want to join, but she typically sees more clients in the military.
Other public safety departments regulate tattoos as well. Jose Ocadiz, community risk reduction battalion chief and public information officer for the Wichita Fire Department, says that the fire department also has a policy regarding tattoos.
When asked if new hires go through the same approval process as recruits for the police, Ocadiz said that each department has their own policy on reviewing existing tattoos for new candidates, though, according to him, their processes are a bit similar.
Ocadiz said that already-employed firefighters had to have their tattoos reviewed when the fire department introduced a tattoo policy. “The areas that were not allowed, on the neck portion or in the face, had to be reviewed but also documented that they were preexistent tattoos before the policy itself,” Ocadiz said.
Ocadiz also mentioned that new hires’ tattoos are reviewed and documented and that the department does look for tattoos that might be associated with any gangs or extremists.
One of the differences between the police department’s policy and the fire department’s policy is that tattoos on the knuckles are allowed in the fire department.
“We’ll go to the point of review of exactly what those types of tattoos are, that are on their hands and knuckles,” Ocadiz said.
In summary, tattoos and public safety work can mix, however, there are policies and limitations in place on what tattoos are allowed in each department and the placement of those tattoos.
Editor’s note: This is part of a series of stories focusing on items of interest emerging from notes being taken by Wichita Documenters, a program that trains and pays residents to take notes at government meetings. In just over a year, Wichita Documenters has dispatched nearly 50 documenters to cover more than 350 meetings, building a better record to keep the public informed. Wichita Documenters is funded through grants from the Wichita Foundation and the Trust for Civic Life as well as contributions from local donors.
This article was republished here with the permission of: KLC Journal