An internal survey of Johnson City police officers found that 78% would be in favor of a policy change allowing them to have exposed tattoos.
Chief Karl Turner presented the results of the poll, which received input from 123 officers, to Johnson City commissioners during an agenda review meeting on Monday.
Additionally, 13% of officers said they would be in favor of allowing tattoos concealed by the uniform, and 9% were in favor of allowing employees to have tattoos as long as they were covered by a sleeve, such as a breathable Under Armour-style material.
Asked if employees thought visible tattoos would negatively affect the professional image of the police department, 12.2% said yes, 11.4% neither agreed nor disagreed and 76.4% said no.
The change, the organization said, comes after months of consideration by the Operations Committee, a JCDA subcommittee.
M&M Management has been the property agent for the building for 20 years and will continue its management services until the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development approves the transfer of those responsibilities to the housing authority, which the JCDA expects could take about 70 days.
Dianna Cantler, executive director of the JCDA, said the JCDA s one-year contract with M&M went through Aug. 28, and because they were the management agent when the JCDA first purchased the building, the organization continued with them.