A friend and I were recently talking about tattoos. I mentioned that while I have no real opinion on tattoos, I don't have any or the desire to ever get one.

The discussion came up when we were talking about various professions and whether those companies/agencies forbid visible tattoos on their employees We were talking more specifically about police agency policies in New York State. In the past, I believe tattoos were forbidden, visible, or hidden.

But, sometimes rules change. This is what we found:

New York State Police Policy

According to the New York State Police website, an officer is prohibited from having any tattoos on any portion of the head, neck, or facial area, and tattoos on hands, fingers, and wrists are prohibited, except for a single band tattoo that is no more than 3/8" width on one finger.

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Tattoos are allowed on the chest or back but must be covered by wearing a fitted short-sleeve uniform shirt with no portion of the tattoo showing, according to the New York State Police website.

In addition, tattoos are prohibited if they are deemed unprofessional, offensive, or prohibited, including depictions of violence or criminal activity, anything that may incite a strong negative reaction in any group, language that is sexual, explicit, vulgar, or profane, and any type of tattoo that may represent criminal or historically oppressive organizations or activities.

New York City Police Policy

Medium.com notes that for New York City Police, visible tattoos are allowed except for ones that may be offensive, gang-related, or anything that could be interpreted as advocating for criminal activity is not allowed.

Also, same as New York State Police, NYPD members are prohibited from having tattoos on their face, neck, or hands. As far as police agencies in the Southern Tier, we found no formal tattoo policy except that tattoos deemed offensive, are forbidden.

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