Philadelphia police drafting new tattoo policy

Friday, February 10, 2017
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The Philadelphia Police Department is drafting its first-ever tattoo policy.

It comes after a controversy erupted over an officer's tattoo.

The department will not discuss what the policy will prohibit or what officers with tattoos will have to do in the future until it's implemented.

Last September, a photo of Officer Ian Hans Lichtermann taken by a member of the Philadelphia Coalition for Real Justice showed a tattoo of an eagle with the word "Fatherland" over it. The group claimed the image was a Nazi insignia.

The officer was cleared of any wrongdoing.

The FOP said Lichtermann, who is of German heritage, was just trying to show his pride in the German-American Police Association, which he says uses a similar symbol.
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