Woman who paid to have neck tattoo removed to join police is rejected AGAIN for arm tattoos

Woman who paid $3000 to have her neck tattoo removed so she could work for the police is rejected AGAIN for body art on her arms

  • Woman who spent $3000 on neck tattoo removal, rejected by WA police again
  • The tattoo on her neck of a small flower, took ‘eight painful months’ to remove  
  • Annie Hosking, was knocked back from the job again, because of her arm tattoos
  • Hosking wants a meeting with the WA Police Commissioner to discuss the issue 
  • Comes after another man was rejected by WA Police for having tattoo on neck

A woman who spent $3000 to have her neck tattoos removed so she could work for the police has been rejected again after reapplying for the job – because of the ink on her arms.

Kalgoorlie woman, Annie Hosking, said she was rejected the first time for a flower tattoo on her neck.

Because of this she spent ‘$3000 and eight painful months’ on removing the tattoo, she told The West Australian. 

Ms Hosking was rejected a second time for tattoo sleeves on her arms which she claims were not flagged as a problem the first time.

Annie Hosking (pictured) shows off her arm tattoos.  Because of these she has been rejected as a recruit by the Western Australian Police Force 

Now she wants to meet Western Australia Police Commissioner Chris Dawson for an explanation.

‘It’s an absolute joke being discriminated against over ink on your skin,’ she said.

Mr Dawson has stood by the policy banning officers from having face, neck or hand tattoos.

While the WA police tattoo ban explicitly includes face, neck and hand tattoos, it can extend to tattoos ‘that would potentially be visible if an officer wore a short sleeve top and shorts’.

According to the WA police recruit application form these tattoos need to be photographed, and have their meanings explained, at which time they will need to ‘assessed and approved.’

Ms Hosking (pictured showing her back tattoos) paid $3000 to remove a tattoo from her neck after it prevented her from joining the WA Police

Ms Hosking (pictured showing her back tattoos) paid $3000 to remove a tattoo from her neck after it prevented her from joining the WA Police 

It is not clear whether Ms Hosking had gone through this process.

The latest incident comes after Ryan Banting, who served in the defence force for ten years, was told he couldn’t proceed with his application to join the WA police because of the ‘lest we forget’ tattoo on his neck.

People on social media reacted with comments that the decision was ‘discriminatory’ and ‘ridiculous and that tattoos did not affect an officer’s performance.

Ms Hosking (pictured with her arm tattoos) wants a meeting with WA Police Commissioner, Chris Dawson, to discuss the issue

Ms Hosking (pictured with her arm tattoos) wants a meeting with WA Police Commissioner, Chris Dawson, to discuss the issue 

Some added that Mr Banting was being punished for a tattoo that respected Anzacs.

Mr Dawson denied the decision was about either patriotism or character, but about uniform standards.

You’ve got to have a standard and the standard we’ve got in fact is very similar to the Defence Force,’ he said.

He added that Mr Banting could reapply once his neck tattoo had been removed, but Mr Banting has said he did not want to remove the tattoo because of its significance.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk