Cities and school districts across the country are forcing their employees to cover up tattoos if they want to keep their jobs. The edicts have been issued to maintain a good image, say the communities, and they have been applied to teachers, janitors, firefighters and others.
“We didn’t want to offend some people in the community,” says Capt. Armando Hogan, spokesman for the Los Angeles City Fire Department, where employees were ordered last spring to cover all tattoos while on duty. “I have been on drills and on scene where someone has said, ‘I wouldn’t want that person working on me,’ and we’ve had to educate the individual who made the comment.”
