Tattoo Cop Agrees To Wear Make-Up

by Christopher Peak | Mar 28, 2019 7:58 am

(32) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author

Posted to: Labor, Legal Writes, True Vote

A trio of face tattoos nearly cost Officer Jason Bandy his job — but now a tube of makeup might help him make up with the chiefs who sought to kick him off the force. Bandy offered that literally face-saving compromise of applying concealer every day on the job, during a termination hearing Wednesday night at the department’s Union Avenue headquarters. The Police Commission called the hearing to consider the Acting Chief Otoniel Reyes’ recommendation to fire Bandy over his new tattoos, which cover parts of his face and neck and remain visible to the public when he patrols the streets. Bandy had rejected a previous settlement deal to avoid the termination. During the two-hour hearing, a lawyer for the police union needled Reyes about what rules Bandy had actually broken and whether the department had fairly considered any work-arounds to keep Bandy in uniform. After new evidence came up about why Bandy had rejected the settlement deal, the lawyers for both sides asked the Police Commission to hold off on making a decision for 30 days. It turns out Bandy said he will agree to the chief’s key demand — that he conceal the face and neck tattoos. So the two sides will now negotiate other aspects of the settlement. The “Last Frontier” Bandy has been to a termination hearing before, for a different reason: He was fired in 2010 for calling in sick to work, then going out to a bar anyway, getting drunk with two fellow cops, urinating on the bathroom floor at the Center Street Lounge and refusing to leave, until he was arrested for breach of peace and interfering with an officer. The department later rehired him. Since Bandy first became a cop in 2008, his body has been covered in ink. He has illustrations of a poker hand, a roll of dice, a portrait of Don Corleone from “The Godfather” and of Jesus Christ, a serpent-wrapped Eve under the Tree of Knowledge, floral blooms and a perched bald eagle that spreads its wings across his jugular veins. But the department brass said the latest marks on his face — “Veni, Vidi, Vici” on his forehead, for the Roman emperor Caesar’s boast over his conquered rivals; “D” by one ear, for Detroit; and the Roman numerals for 4004 BC by the other ear, for a 17th-century scholar’s calculation of the world’s start date — finally went too far. (Read more about that in the first story reported on this subject by the Register’s Mary O’Leary.) Even among tattoo-parlor regulars, marking up one’s face has long been considered extreme, partly because of its association with prison culture, where those serving life sentences didn’t worry how society would judge the teardrops, crowns or swastikas on their face. “If you want to be transgressive,” Anna Felicity Friedman, a tattoo historian, told The New York Times last year, “the last frontier is the face.” Acting Chief Reyes said that he doesn’t have a problem with body ink; in fact, he admitted that even he has a few tattoos. But he argued that face tattoos just don’t fit with the department’s brand. “Your face is the first thing the public sees when you walk into a room, and you represent a brand of the New Haven Police Department,” Reyes said. “When an officer walks in with tattoos on their face, there are segments of the population that we serve that may be confused and offended. They may not understand what that’s all about, and they may question the mental stability of an officer. At the end of the day, when we’re out there, we’re not supposed to be a distraction to the people that we serve; we’re supposed to be a comfort. We submit that when an officer does this, it takes away what the brand of the department means.” “We’re not individuals here; we’re part of a team and we’re part of a brand,” Reyes added. “When an officer puts three tattoos on their face, they are trying to control the image of the department, and we can’t have that.” The termination hearing was the first test of Reyes’s leadership of the department. He assumed the job of acting chief this week after Chief Anthony Campbell quit in protest over the top brass’s health benefits. (Campbell initiated the termination process against Bandy for the tattoos.) Snickers & Glares On Wednesday night, Bandy showed up in full-dress uniform, with concealer and foundation powdered over his face to hide any of the black lettering. His supporters, several of them sporting tattoos down their arms, filled up the conference room and overflowed out into the hallway. As the questioning heated up, a few standing behind the chief started to snicker, and Reyes turned back to glare at them. While there’s no explicit policy forbidding tattoos, the top cops argued that Bandy’s three facial tattoos violate the department’s requirements that all officers maintain a “neat and clean appearance” and a “businesslike manner.” Reyes argued that the prohibition on face tattoos didn’t need to be written down. “It comes down to common sense. It’s probably the most important tool an officer has,” Reyes said. “I would equate that to an officer not falling asleep on the job. There’s nothing on the books that says you can’t fall asleep on the job. There’s no specific rule, but it’s covered by the general orders.” The union’s lawyer, ex-cop Marshall Segar, responded that a policy like that is too general to be enforceable. He said it should be “void for vagueness.” But as the two sides sparred, the crux of the argument eventually came down to whether the department had really given Bandy a chance to meet its standards. That’s because the question of whether Bandy could use make-up to hide his facial tattoos got mixed up with other settlement negotiations, Segar said. At first, in November, top cops transferred Bandy to booking and asked him to have the tattoos surgically removed. But they relented after Bandy’s dermatologist said that kind of operation would be costly, would take several months and would leave permanent scars at his hairline. Working with corporation counsel and labor relations, they came back with a more detailed offer in February that said Bandy could stay on the job as long as his tats stayed out of sight. But the deal came with a few catches. The settlement said Bandy could face “potential termination for noncompliance, whether such is intentional or not.” Bandy said that put his career at risk during every thunder storm or heat wave. Even after the deal was amended to give him a reprieve when “the chief of police determines that extenuating circumstances excuse such noncompliance,” Bandy still said he wasn’t sure he’d be treated fairly. Should Women Cops Shave Their Heads? The union pressed Reyes about whether other dress-code violations would put an officer up for termination hearings in a testy exchange. Segar: Do female officers with long hair wear their hair up, in accordance with policy? Reyes: Yes, sir. Segar: If during a tussle, a fight or some other type of police-related action, if their hair was to fall off their head and be non-compliant, what would you tell them to do? Reyes: To put up their hair. Segar: Would you tell them to shave their head? Reyes: I wouldn’t say that. Segar: If an officer showed up with a wrinkled uniform, what would you tell them to do? Reyes: I’d tell them to iron it. Segar: Would you tell them throw it out and buy a new one? Reyes: If it was damaged. More importantly, the department’s offer would have also required Bandy to withdraw two complaints he’d filed with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO), alleging gender-based discrimination and retaliation. But Bandy said he didn’t want to give up his due-process rights. In late February, he turned the package down. Another meeting was set up for mid-March, but after the city cancelled, it hasn’t been rescheduled, Segar said. “The issue here is that the chief has said that Officer Bandy refused accommodations. That’s untrue. He’s here before you tonight in the fashion as you would see him on the street, but the accommodation is not solely that,” Segar said. “He’s not going to agree to withdraw the CHRO, but he’s willing to comply with a directive from the chief of police to cover his tattoos,” Segar added. “As with anybody else who had facial hair, long hair, unshiny shoes or unkept uniform, if the chief said, ‘Shine your shoes,’ he would do it. He will comply with a directive, which has not been given by the chief, to cover your tattoos.” After that back-and-forth, the commissioners called for a five-minute break. That stretched on as the attorneys met in Chief Reyes’s office to talk over the deal. Once they returned to the conference room, Jarad Lucan, a partner at Shipman & Goodwin hired to represent the police department, said that Reyes hadn’t been aware of exactly why the earlier negotiation fell apart. He asked for more time to see if a compromise could be reached, and the commissioners agreed to table the hearing for 30 days. On the way out of the meeting, Bandy, Segar, Lucan and John Rose, the city’s corporation counsel, all declined to comment on the upcoming negotiations.

Share this story with others.

Post a Comment

Commenting has closed for this entry

Comments

posted by: thecove on March 28, 2019 8:46am What I find the most appalling is the fact that this guy has supporters! Do I see State Rep. Paolillo in one of those pics? He doesn’t belong on the job….period!

posted by: JohnDVelleca on March 28, 2019 8:46am hemorrhaging cops and we’re worried about tattoos. Makes a lot of sense….maybe introduce a policy at this point. Just a suggestion….

posted by: ebw1957 on March 28, 2019 8:50am While I may not personally have or like tattoos, if this local hero wants them, I have no issue. People who do the fairly thankless work these brave people do should have some liberties.

posted by: Somewhere In New Haven on March 28, 2019 9:07am I was raised to know ............. a house without rules, is no house at all. Full body tattoos are a bit much for any public official. If wasn’t already employed, I’m certain he would have a hard time getting employment (just looks like trouble). My opinion, not appropriate, period.

posted by: George Polk on March 28, 2019 9:13am People who go over the top with tattoo’s turn their bodies into a doodle page, there might be a nice drawing in their but it’s covered by clutter. Even if he could justify this “art” for an undercover operation I’m sure the criminals would know who he has the “wrong” markings. Another thing, I understand short hair is easy to maintain and could be a safety issue for police officers of both genders but does every officer and detective have to have the same paramilitary buzz cut or chrome dome?

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on March 28, 2019 9:48am Officer Bandy, without makeup.. Looks like a Hip Hop Cop.I wonder if he rolls like the Ruff Ryders DMX - Ruff Ryders’ Anthem https://youtu.be/ThlhSnRk21E In fact there was a Hip Hop cop.And Officer Bandy can pass for him. The Hip Hop Cop Damon Dash, longtime partner of rap icon Jay-Z, is the CEO of a Hiphop empire that includes the brands Roc-a-Fella and Roc-a-Wear, and produces music, films, clothing, and vodka. He also is a man known to travel with an entourage of family and friends, the kind of company police rap intelligence has been watching and documenting in recent years. Interviews with former detective first grade Derrick Parker, who claims to be the founder and architect of the New York Police Department’s rap intelligence unit, reveal that in the 1990s Parker thought it was important to monitor people who were starting to “latch on” to rappers and entertainers, some of whom, Parker says, may have been known to him as “a shooter, or a strong-arm guy https://www.villagevoice.com/2004/03/30/the-hiphop-cop/ https://www.villagevoice.com/2004/03/16/nypd-admits-to-rap-intelligence-unit/

posted by: Xavier on March 28, 2019 12:23pm Ridiculous. I thought this guy got fired from his stunt at the bar. If you’re a cop, you should have some common sense about your appearance. Bandy has displayed a lack of good judgment. This incident should not be isolated from his other bad judgments and action.

Terminate.

posted by: alex on March 28, 2019 12:30pm It seems like they have it out for this guy because he was fired once before and then reinstated. I care a lot more about whether he’s a good cop and people trust him than whether he has tattoos anywhere on his body. If he does a good job and has earned people’s trust, the tattoo isn’t a problem. If he doesn’t do a good job, though, or isn’t trusted, that tattoo is menacing. Tough call. I wish the Police Commissioners took complaints of brutality this seriously.

posted by: Robtam18 on March 28, 2019 12:59pm To thecove….his job is to be in attendance….and support his city workers who are unfairly persecuted….you on the other hand use the cowardly security of anonymity…. cops fireman park n rec etc all have tattoos… Youre over reacting and lastly u don’t know who he’s supporting or if he’s theres because it’s an important legal matter….

posted by: Robtam18 on March 28, 2019 1:02pm He has tattoos…its not a matter of if u guys like tattoos its about his constitutional rights… you guys have no back bone…. i have tattoos on my hand….im a firefighter, you gonna stay in a burning building n wait for a non tattooed member to save u? If its just an lovin on appearance that’s fine..u can’t fire people u fairly….

posted by: ElmCityLover on March 28, 2019 1:09pm Why is the city hiring outside lawyers for this? Given the number of employees/unions in the city, the in-house lawyers should include someone qualified to handle this type of labor law situation.

posted by: Patricia Kane on March 28, 2019 1:37pm Bandy knew what he was doing when he put his tatoos up front on the sides of his neck and under his chin. He knew it was like waving a red flag in front of a bull.

He knew the department was ok with concealed tatoos, but that the facial area was out of acceptable bounds.

Whether the rule he was charged with violating was too vague to be enforceable is a question the NHPD can easily remedy.

Why this guy is even a cop is a good question, considering his own acting out in the past and in this instance.

He looks like he identifies more with “outlaws” or rebels than with being an authority figure.

Whatever the outcome of this particular issue, I predict he’ll be back on some other charge.

PS. Not everyone who wears a uniform is a “hero”. Let’s not cheapen the word.

posted by: wendy1 on March 28, 2019 2:19pm This is ridiculous. I dont care about the exterior at all. I want men and women in the force for the right reasons, justice, ethics, morality, etc. If you steal or beat your wife or behave like a bigot, you’re out. If these boob bosses cant make up their minds about this piddly stuff, then they’re out and maybe I’ll give the cop with the tattoos their job.

posted by: publikskooled on March 28, 2019 2:21pm The 4004 tat he has is reference to 4004 bc,the yea “new earth” christian bible elievers say the earth was created.

im more worried that the NHPD actually hired someone who believes this to be true, and has the power to make arrests.

posted by: Patricia Kane on March 28, 2019 2:34pm @Wendy1: Sit in on a hearing like this sometime and watch what happens.

The Chief tried to enforce a rule. The Union steps in and the union lawyer does his job. Meanwhile the officer files a CHRO complaint.

Nothing is easy.

Someone needs to review the City contracts and see if they are protecting the taxpayers equally with the union members.

Bill Saunders in his suit for personal injuries was unable to overcome the rules that protect police from assaults and not being correct as to the law.

The fact that we need a Civilian Review Board hints that maybe something is out of whack.

posted by: wendy1 on March 28, 2019 3:53pm PK—-You’re my lawyer. You go to some of these meetings and bring me the info; I’ve got my own stuff to attend. I cant make every GD meeting in town. This is one reason I think alders should be paid, to ensure they go to the GD meetings.

posted by: JohnDVelleca on March 28, 2019 4:42pm For clarification, my initial comment was not meant as a fastidious critique of Chief Reyes. Most people around the NHPD know that Chief Reyes and I are very good friends and we have been for over fifteen years. We are also very honest with each other and have never shied away from a good debate when our opinions differ. So to those of you who are surprised that I would be even slightly critical of Tony Reyes you should remember that honest friends are the best friends a person can have. Further, take solace in the fact that Chief Reyes has no problem at all critiquing me when necessary (which seems to bring him great enjoyment as well). On this issue we agree on some things and disagree on others. We do agree that Bandy’s face and neck tattoos look very unprofessional and were a poor decision given the fact that he is a police officer. I have tattoos myself, but Bandy went too far. Our disagreement lies with the professional ramifications Bandy should endure.

1) I don’t believe this an offense worthy of his termination. During Bandy’s first offense I was the Assistant Chief and I agreed with then-Chief Frank Limon that Bandy should be fired for his actions. This incident does not raise to the same level of the first. Discipline needs to be fair and consistent. He was fired and then returned to work. That’s the system, it’s driven by past practice and it needs to be respected. Although tangential, the incidents are separate and should remain that way.

2) Police officers having tattoos has been a topic of discussion at the executive levels of policing for over a decade. If it was a concern at the NHPD a policy should have been drafted and implemented. More specifically, in 2009 then-Chief Jim Lewis proposed the idea of such a tattoo policy, but the idea was squashed by the Corp Counsel’s office. All employees have the right to know EXACTLY what the rules are and the manner in which they are applied.

posted by: JohnDVelleca on March 28, 2019 4:45pm (CONT…) Bandy may be the first to have face tattoos, but he is not the first to have neck and/or hand tattoos. Again, discipline needs to be fair. The lack of a tattoo policy signals to the workforce that the issue of visible tattoos is insignificant to the executive command. Bandy’s tattooing is extreme, but a strong policy could have guarded against that type of action.

3) Bandy’s face tattoo was not his first, but his last. So…where was the supervisory intervention along the way? The sleeves, hands and neck tattoos didn’t merit supervisory intervention? The first two face tattoos didn’t merit supervisory intervention? It was only the third face tattoo that got the attention of command. So, two face tattoos is ok, but three you’re getting fired? The lack of supervisory intervention gave tacit approval for Bandy’s actions. If nobody says anything about the tattoos, they must be ok with it, right?

4) Lastly, the NHPD has had a difficult year and we all know why, so there is no need to revisit all of the challenges these cops have endured. Did it really need to go to an all-out BOPC hearing? Couldn’t this have been worked out behind closed doors without a clenched fist on both sides of the negotiations? This seems to have been further damage to the officer’s morale that just wasn’t worth it. Fight the fights that need fighting, not all of them. Bandy doesn’t lose his right for free expression just because he’s a cop, but I hope he makes better decisions in the future. Just because you can do something, doesn’t always mean that you should. And quite frankly, the tattoos he has look like shit on a cop; It’s simply too much. However, that doesn’t mean he should lose his job.

posted by: missthenighthawks on March 28, 2019 5:00pm I agree that it seems he is “testing” authority. As a police officer he expects to be seen as a person in authority, but apparently he doesn’t have the same respect for his chain of command.

It would also seem to me that in any settlement it would be normal, not mandatory, but normal to drop your CHRO case. It doesn’t mean you cant file a new one if you have new complaints, but why should the city settle with him with the potential to have to pay out in the future if he wins his case over the same subject?

posted by: HewNaven on March 28, 2019 5:06pm I think 3 face tattoos is enough. 4 is too many. Officers should be allowed 1 teardrop tattoo, 1 spider web on the throat, and 1 more of their own choosing.

posted by: challenge on March 28, 2019 7:25pm Yes, let’s not cheapen the word “hero”. I haven’t read anything about heroic work performed by Bandy. As a matter of fact I haven’t heard anything from the community. What I heard is that within one year on the job he violated ten department policies, disgraced the uniform, was terminated and able to get his job back. It’s no wonder he has no respect for authority and comes to work looking like a bearded thug. I also heard part of his “art” is a Greek inscription “I came, I saw, I conquered”. Should the city lower its standards of professionalism simply because the department is losing cops? Many feel the city is over policed. I suspect Bandy will retain his job as he did following his arrests at the bar and for a domestic violence incident with his mother. He will do so because there is no demand for integrity and accountability. Until the next act of insolence…...

posted by: Lifer on March 28, 2019 8:29pm I didn’t realize what all this ruckus was about until seeing the photo. Now I understand - he looks scary. Call me old-fashioned but when I see tats like that I think sociopath. Has this dude had proper psychiatric screening and criminal background check?

posted by: Nashstreeter on March 29, 2019 12:36am I wouldn’t want to meet up with this guy if I were alone on a dark street and needed help. He looks like a gang banger. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who think of the police as the “beat down posse. ” He looks like Exhibit A.

posted by: AverageTaxpayer on March 29, 2019 7:30am Bandy’s egotism, selfishness, and anti-authoritarian streak are taking up how many hours of other people’s time? Common sense says society doesn’t want cops to look like gang members.

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on March 29, 2019 9:03am posted by: Nashstreeter on March 29, 2019 12:36am I wouldn’t want to meet up with this guy if I were alone on a dark street and needed help. He looks like a gang banger. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who think of the police as the “beat down posse. ” He looks like Exhibit A.

posted by: AverageTaxpayer on March 29, 2019 7:30am Bandy’s egotism, selfishness, and anti-authoritarian streak are taking up how many hours of other people’s time? Common sense says society doesn’t want cops to look like gang members. What does a gang member and gang banger. look like?

posted by: alphabravocharlie on March 29, 2019 9:35am Tony Reyes himself is a squared away guy. He inherited this situation from his predecessor. I’m sure it irks him to no end but he believes in fairness and due process. If the BOPC had fired Bandy for his conduct he undoubtedly would have gottn his job back because the rule cited is vague. I’m no big fan of tats either but society has changed and they are far more acceptable than they once were. The challenge for the Department is to find a balance. You don’t want police officers looking like bikers or gang members. Believe it or not, initial appearances matter. The challenge now is to find a balance through a reasonable policy that balances the rights of the officers, the Department and community and enforce it fairly. I would look to the military as they have wrestled with this problem for years.

posted by: William Kurtz I’m back for another round of ‘misued metaphors.’ Covering up your tattoos with makeup is not a “literally face-saving” measure, unless, say, the makeup was going to prevent some crazed cannibal from literally devouring someone’s face. Don’t worry; I haven’t forgotten about ‘begging the question.’

posted by: unprotected on March 29, 2019 9:33pm No policy… no foul. What exactly is the “brand” refered to as the New Haven Police Dept. I see officers, young and old leaving. I see command staff jumping ship. There is no brand without product loyalty. There is no product loyalty without employee satisfaction.

posted by: George Polk on March 30, 2019 5:06am He is going to be awfully hot during the summer months doing traffic control next to street paving trucks dressed in full dress blues uniform. I wonder if the cities health insurance would cover tattoo removal? Probably not maybe in the next contract. What does a gang member look like? I don’t know what does a Mobster look like.

posted by: swatty on March 30, 2019 9:41am “Your face is the first thing the public sees when you walk into a room, and you represent a brand of the New Haven Police Department,” Reyes said. “When an officer walks in with tattoos on their face, there are segments of the population that we serve that may be confused and offended. They may not understand what that’s all about, and they may question the mental stability of an officer. At the end of the day, when we’re out there, we’re not supposed to be a distraction to the people that we serve; we’re supposed to be a comfort. We submit that when an officer does this, it takes away what the brand of the department means.” “We’re not individuals here; we’re part of a team and we’re part of a brand,” Reyes added. “When an officer puts three tattoos on their face, they are trying to control the image of the department, and we can’t have that.” This is an intelligent, articulate, common sense approach to the issue. How much longer before we can drop the “Acting” from Reyes name? I think we have our Chief of Police right here.

posted by: Corruptionisreal on March 30, 2019 10:15am Ok so how many new haven cops were arrested this year for domestic violence? Quite a few… not to mention the other crimes that caused new haven cops to be arrested this year like DUI while carrying a firearm and others….yet none of these cops were brought in front of the commissioners for termination, how does that make any sense. Sure seems like tattoos are the real issue in this department. Like most no one knows the real story behind this officer and why he has been treated poorly by the administration for most of his career (retaliation/discrimination ect.) Not to mention the clear lack of a tattoo policy that literally every police department has. So why is this officer being punished for the failures of the administration. His job is to follow policies not the perceptions and personal opinions of people and society, not to mention that it’s quite difficult to do since everyone’s opinions are different hence why policies are set in place. Cops are leaving in hoarded because the NHPD treats their cops like garbage…don’t believe it, ask the patrol cops not the high ranking over paid pencil pushers… and if you think this person is a bad person or cop because of his appearance then shame on all of you. Your no different than all the others judging people on race, weight, age ect. Discrimination and appearance has nothing to do with the performance of a job. Chief Reyes keeps stating the department is a brand, what a dumb way to look at a police department. They want cops to be one with the community but look nothing like them, they state they are a Para-military organization yet pick and choose what military actions to reference while then wanting cops to be social workers on top of it…the profession is going down the tubes due to close minded, egotistical and power hungry leaders not because of cops with tattoos….Chief Reyes should be fired for lying under oath during that testimony and if you don’t think he did wait till the transcripts come out….