Eric Weyda, a former Cincinnati Police Officer, was fired back in April for what was considered to be an inappropriate tattoo. He had “pure” across the knuckles of his right hand, and “evil” on his left. The Police Department policy prohibits tattoos on the face, neck, head and hands. Having “Pure Evil” spelled out across your fists is probably not a good idea anyway. Weyda got the ink back in December and was reassigned to work the impound lot “to limit his public exposure.” He was then fired 4 months later.
According to Cincinnati news station WLWT, “Cincinnati police leadership wrote, “Officer Weyda’s tattoos are a violation that is ongoing and permanent. Additionally, Officer Weyda’s tattoos do not promote the professional and neutral image of the Cincinnati Police Department and are injurious to the public trust.” It continues “Weyda showed remorsefulness for obtaining the tattoo and acknowledged a lack of discretion since he obtained the tattoo in December 2021. Furthermore, Officer Weyda stated, like all of his tattoos, his hand tattoo has a personal message to him, and the words ‘pure evil’ should not be observed as one message. Officer Weyda explained the words “pure” and “evil” are separate from each other and the words themselves have separate meanings.”
When confronted with his tats in a hearing, Weyda chose not to get the tattoos removed because it would cost too much.
