MaltaToday online poll | 66% against visible tattoos on police

A ban on police officers sporting visible tattoos is expected to be reconsidered after the matter was raised in parliament during the debate on an Opposition motion.

But whether the public will still respect police officers with visible ink is another matter altogether: an online poll by MaltaToday registered over 66% of users stating they disagree with having members of the Police corps wearing tattoos.

Candidates to the force are still precluded from joining if they have visible tattoos, even though several other countries in the world do not have such a precondition.

1,060 out of 1,601 respondents expressed their disagreement to police officers who wear visible tattoos.

Replying to an online poll by maltatoday.com.mt, only 132 of all respondents said that they found nothing wrong with police officers with tattoos.

On the other hand, 26% found no objection to tattoos, unless these were inflammatory or political.

Last year, the police force introduced a clause in recruitment conditions that barred applications for people who wear tattoos. The clause applied to all tattoos, whether visible or not, and was applied in the last two recruitments.

The proposal to reconsider the clause came from Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, who is now responsible of home affairs following the ousting of former minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici.

Replying to a parliamentary question raised by Labour MP Joe Mizzi, Gonzi said that he had asked for the clause to be reconsidered on the basis of how similar applications are issued in EU countries.

Mizzi went on to describe the ban on tattoos, even those hidden, as "anachronistic".

On the other hand, the Opposition's spokesman on home affairs Michael Falzon insisted that it all depended on the type of tattoo. Falzon also brought up the issue in his debate on the motion that called for Mifsud Bonnici's resignation.

In comments to this newspaper, Falzon said that a total ban was unacceptable. "While a total ban is totally out of place, I would consider it for visible places depending on the type of tattoo," Falzon said.

While the Malta Police Association has yet to discuss the issue, Police Commissioner John Rizzo said he wasn't in a position to comment.

"I don't wish to comment as yet. These are issues we have yet to discuss internally. However, everyone knows what our policy is, a policy the Cops had adhered to during the last two recruitments," he said.

In 2007 Mifsud Bonnici's predecessor Tonio Borg had told parliament that according to procedure, police officers have to make sure their tattoos are entirely covered - not just by a long-sleeved and trousers uniform - but also by a shorts and T-shirt, effectively excluding anyone with a tattoo on their arms, wrists and legs from the police force.

Are tattoos icebreakers?

A tattoo ban is not only an issue in Malta, but also abroad. England, for example, does not practice a total ban, but prohibits officers from showing tattoos that could cause offence to colleagues or the public and tattoos on the face or upper neck.

This includes images that are deemed discriminatory, intimidating or which depict violence.

But police officers themselves claim that tattoos can act as an icebreaker when dealing with the public.

A report that appeared in the Daily Mail last year featured the chairman of the Police Federation in Kent, Ian Pointon, insisted that a ban on showing tattoos was discriminatory and boiled down to stigmatisation.

"They can actually be a good way to start a line of communication with the public. It can be a bit of an icebreaker. The days of tattoos being stigmatised should be over," Pointon had said.

Various critics of such tattoos say that they can detract from an officer's professional image.