Right to bare arms | Maryland Gazette (HometownGlenBurnie.com)

An arbitrator ruled this week that a policy requiring civilian and uniformed officers to cover tattoos while on duty should have been negotiated with the local police union before being instituted last summer.

Col. James Teare Sr., chief of county police, sent a memorandum to his staff Wednesday rescinding the policy initiated in June 2007 "effective immediately."

The police chief was ordered to negotiate the terms of any new tattoo regulations with Cpl. O'Brien Atkinson, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 70.

Chief Teare has been in touch with Cpl. Atkinson, but is yet to schedule negotiations, said Sgt. John Gilmer, a county police spokesman. He said the police chief agreed to abide by third-party arbitrator Robert T. Simmelkjaer's decision.

"The general public should understand that this fight has not been about tattoos, but about respect for our collective bargaining and the rights of our police officers," Cpl. Atkinson said.

Immediately after the policy was put in place, Cpl. Atkinson filed a grievance with the police chief. He said requiring staff to wear long sleeves in the hot summer months is a working condition - and the County Charter requires changes in codes pertaining to working conditions to be run through the union before implementation.

But Chief Teare has said the policy isn't a working condition, just an update of grooming and appearance guidelines.

He said police officers must represent the public in the "best light" and be approachable by the public. He said some tattoos are "offensive" to certain ethnic groups and others are "symbolic of gangs or groups associated with illegal activity."

The union countered that wearing long sleeves while conducting traffic control, a foot patrol or chase in 90-degree weather is certainly a working condition. And that for more than 20 years before June 22, 2007, there was no requirement that tattooed officers be covered.

Cpl. Richard Colmus testified he's had a spider tattoo since 1979, and the police department was aware of his body art when he was hired. He has never received a public complaint about his tattoo.

He said having to wear a long-sleeved shirt in the summer was uncomfortable.

Officer Brian Williams said he didn't have a tattoo when he was hired seven years ago, but had his left arm inked in 2005.

When wearing long-sleeved uniforms in the summer, Officer Williams said he would have to carry a towel in his patrol car and sometimes go behind buildings to change shirts because his sleeves were "darkened with sweat."

Occasionally, the officer would go back to the station to change uniforms because he was so soaked from the heat.

The descriptions of physical discomfort during officer testimonies convinced the arbitrator that the tattoo policy, unlike grooming regulations, directly impacts officer's working conditions, and thus should have been bargained.

The tattoo arbitration, which began March 24, came down to a case of fairness, Cpl. Atkinson said.

"Officers who were hired by the police department with tattoos or who received tattoos in the absence of a policy, felt that they were being unjustly punished by being forced to wear long sleeves during hot summer months," he said. "In addition to the comfort issues, many officers considered the mandatory wearing of long sleeves in the blistering heat as a scarlet letter - a sign that they had done something wrong, or had something to be ashamed of."

Most police officers said they are proud of their tattoos.

"Some are memorials of loved ones, family members, or reminders of tragedies such as Sept. 11," he said.

Before being ordered to cover tattoos, Cpl. Atkinson said most officers reported having positive interaction with the communities they served stemming from their body art.

He said he wishes he and the police chief could have come up with a compromise in the three times they met before going to arbitration. But he's happy with how things turned out.

"It is unfortunate that we had to spend literally tens of thousands of dollars fighting this issue, but we are thrilled that the police officers and the duty to bargain with employee representatives prevailed," Cpl. Atkinson said.