After receiving half the number of applicants compared to the previous year, the Springfield Police Department has now made a major policy change allowing tattooed recruits to apply without fear of rejection.
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After the Springfield Police Department saw a 50% decrease in the number of applicants, they decided to make some changes in the recruitment process.
Police Chief Paul Williams said, “We’re looking for anything and everything we can do to open up those doors and make sure we’re not turning away someone who has an interest in being a police officer for something that’s kind of arbitrary,”
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As tattoos become more and more common in society, it is becoming evident that policies that ban them from the workplace may not last long.
“A lot of the older generation of police officers don’t agree with it, but we’re seeing a younger workforce on our department and a majority of our younger workforce have tattoos. It’s just the truth. We didn’t want to lose out on that younger workforce”, says Officer Anderson.
This policy change has been popular among new recruits and their numbers are already seeing a difference.
“Overwhelming majority of our applicants have tattoos. Mostly visible tattoos on their arms. As you can see with our current recruits, every single one of them has a tattoo.”
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“With low recruitment numbers, it definitely affects the officers that are already out on the street. It puts a lot more pressure on them. A bigger call load obviously.”
30 of the current officers in the Springfield police force have asked to be able to show off their tattoos which they had to previously cover with long sleeves.
“It is nice in the summertime when it gets to be 100 degrees that we can wear short sleeves like everybody else,” says a recruit.
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Chief Williams also holds the view that tattoos may also help officers relate more to the general public and vice versa. There will however still be some restrictions in place.
“There is still some restrictions,” Chief Williams says. “Nothing that’s derogatory or obscene or racist or could be perceived that way.”
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The number of applications per month has doubled since July. He believes that the tattoo policy, among other changes made to the recruitment process can be credited for the improvement.
