Tattoos are now taboo for Broken Arrow Police

A new policy forbids Broken Arrow police officers from having tattoos, at least the ones that can be SEEN.

The department says tattoos have to be able to be concealed by a normal uniform.

For areas like forearms, Broken Arrow Police Corporal Leon Calhoun says some officers have been wearing flesh-colored bandages or sleeves to cover them, which he says is acceptable.

"I belive that's solved a lot of issues that we might have had if we'd just stated, y'know, you can't have any tattoos whatsoever," Calhoun said.  "So I think this is kind of the best of both worlds here."

He said the new policy has not caused any major problems for any existing officers or caused anyone to have to resign.

He said it's all an effort to have the officers present an image that's as professional as possible.