Tattoos and the Gardai

To be just as clear -

Just to be clear I purposely engineered the the hypothetical to suit my argument, of course I did, I am trying to highlight it.

That’s exactly the point I was making - you engineered the strawman of the refugee who shares your views in the first place. It was completely unnecessary, and confounded then by claiming your strawman was being attacked. It was funny though 😂

Me personally? I’d be less concerned about the tattoos on the officers arm than I would be about the weapon he’s carrying! But y’know, that’s just me, and this thread is about tattoos. I really have no idea of prostitutes opinions on tattoos or their knowledge of historical characters!

That being said, I do appreciate artwork, not so much a fan of arse antlers or barcodes, it varies 😂

Speak for yourself there sweetheart.

You created a straw man in the first place, pot…meet kettle. 🤣

I'm not surprised, this being Catholic ireland and all.

It wouldn't surprise me if you needed to know th bible back to front to get into the guards.

They should be focusing on more important things.

Giving gardi more power to clobber scumbags if they get out of hand for one.

No shıt, really?

Ah that would make you the only human to ever exist who does not have implicit bias and judge based on appearance.

Edit: unless you are blind, apologies if you are, then I admit you are not judging people based on appearance

Oh....yeah....sugarplum...

Oh and one of these 🤣, am I doing it right? Lol

This is a good laugh, yes I am so upset, lol. Is this to become a competition of apathy now?

To be clear, Yes I am a speaking on behalf of all humans who can see. Bias is a fact, you could describe the life of a human as a series of judgements.

The fashion industry exists because people make judgement based on appearance.

What a revelation this must be for you!

The problem nowadays is what is not 'offensive' to one person can easily be offensive to another.

Indeed you only have to look at this thread to see how people are split on this topic

I don't mind tattoos per-se but I do think in certain professions visible tattoos shouldn't be allowed for the reason above alone.

I doubt the clergy have much say in the workings of the Gardai these days and even when they did tattoos weren't a topic that came up for discussion.

We have an ex RUC prod as commissioner now.

Thing is, josey , most people of intelligence are aware bias exists and do everything they can to mitigate against it .

That is the whole premise of legislation for equality and anti discrimination. To prevent personal bias creeping in to everyday life .

It is why our country has become more enlightened with education over time , as well as our own historical struggles with a class driven oppressor .

We all have personal opinions about who and what we like .

That doesn't mean that those personal opinions should influence how we perceive others and treat them in a fair and equal society .

That would be most unprofessional and unacceptable.

I agree with you completely. Honestly, I am not really perturbed to the point of action if I were to see tattoos on a police officer, I would not expect him/her to be incompetent/competent based on that alone. I was just pointing out that one might have prejudice toward tattoos, indeed I do, if I make a tiny effort to examine myself. It's irrelevant really that I would not have a big problem, the point is the edge cases. The vulnerable, who cannot afford the level of reflection that most of us can. These people are living in a world of fear and reaction and they are the ones that police have to deal with or help. There is a lot more structure to the world than is commonly spoken about because we take it for granted but absolutely the framework of dress and appearance is a huge part of it. The leadership of AGS are no doubt aware of that, after they police by consent, it's key, whether we as individuals care or not about tattoos or language or demeanor or whatever is not really relevant iny opinion.

Fair enough.

I just believe that if we can accept surgeons as trustworthy with tattoos , that it is really time to relax the rules or allow some changes to the uniform to allow gardaí a bit of lattitude with their personal choice.

And as regards those on the edges you describe who may be vulnerable , no profession can cater for the fears or anxieties if every single person, but there are ways a person can reassure and gain trust .

There would be many for example who would object to being treated by a person of colour or by a member of the opposite sex. It is appropriate to take this into account in some cases but there is a limit to that.

It's irrelevant really that I would not have a big problem, the point is the edge cases. The vulnerable, who cannot afford the level of reflection that most of us can. These people are living in a world of fear and reaction and they are the ones that police have to deal with or help. 

I know it’s not your intent, but let’s not go making excuses for bigotry based upon our own beliefs about other people.

There is, but AGS aren’t at the point yet where they need to be considering relaxing the restrictions in their policies on tattoos in order to attract new recruits.