A proposal to ban people with tattoos from joining the NSW police force is absurd, the state Opposition says.
Under a proposal being drafted for Commissioner Andrew Scipione, prospective recruits with tattoos would be knocked back and officers with tattoos would have to conceal them.
Assistant police commissioner Michael Corboy, one of the authors of the proposal, said the move was about professionalism and presenting the right look to the community.
"Does the community want someone knocking on their door with a Mike Tyson tattoo on their face or neck? I don't think so," he told the Sydney Morning Herald. But Opposition leader John Robertson said police should be concentrating on more important issues.
"It's just absurd that the Government's focused on something like that rather than actually getting more police on the ground to deal with issues like drive-by shootings," he told Macquarie Radio.
