Pete Blanco’s entire body is covered with tattoos. On his face, his hands, his arms, more than 100, many of them blending together. Without his uniform or his badge, you’d never guess he was once a Gary police officer for 22 years.
“They definitely helped me relate to the younger dudes on the street in Gary,” Blanco told me. “My nickname was ‘Tattoo Po-Po.’”
When he was still on the force as a patrol sergeant, Blanco had three facial tattoos – “1964” (his birth year on his chin), a small cross under his left eye, and a Spanish soldier with the word “Conquistador” covering his entire scalp.
In 2013, a police supervisor told him that “some officers” were complaining about his facial tattoos, though no one ever complained personally to Blanco, he said.
“But he told me not to worry because our department doesn’t have a policy about it,” said Blanco, 53, who lives in Lake Station.
Later that year, another supervisor told him there was a policy about tattoos and it would be clarified as the “Pete Blanco rule,” Blanco said.
“I walked away stunned, wondering if other officers would blame me. And wondering if they then wouldn’t back me up on calls again,” Blanco said.
Blanco filed the first of three formal complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, claiming he was being discriminated against by the department. Those complaints were denied by the agency.
Blanco also covered up his visible tattoos, turning up his shirt collar, wearing a winter cap, even putting Band-Aids on his facial tattoos, he said.
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“I didn’t like having to cover up my tattoos, but I understood it,” said Blanco, who also served three years as a Merrillville police officer. “My beef was that I was the only officer told to cover up my tattoos. A lot of cops have tattoos these days.”
Blanco got his first tattoo, “Pete,” at 18, by the late Roy Boy Cooper in Gary. He’s been tattooing his body ever since.
When I met him last week, he sported more facial tattoos than he had during his days as a cop. A Band-Aid covered one of the new tattoos while he worked a security guard job. He’s in the process of getting it laser removed for personal reasons.
Blanco retired from Gary PD on April 1, 2016, claiming he was forced to do so after repeated run-ins with a certain supervisor. He says he was “harassed” for two years prior to that date by the department’s administration.
“Yet just to be a good guy, I still covered up my tattoos even after putting in my retirement notice,” he said. “I didn’t have to, but I did anyway. It was the professional thing to do.”
Gary PD disagrees with Blanco’s complaints.
“Pete Blanco was never disciplined for his tattoos,” said Gary police Commander Jack Hamady. “He was never disciplined for this violation, and he did retire once he was of age to collect retirement.”
“There was a standard operating procedure where tattoos were not to be visible and, if an officer did have them, they would have to cover them up. They would either have to wear long sleeves or body makeup to hide them from public view,” Hamady said.
“It is my understanding he was asked to wear long sleeves or body makeup but never did or did not comply with the policy,” Hamady added.
Blanco says he did comply with the policy, even though it singled him out. After he retired, the department removed its policy against tattoos, he said.
Hamady confirmed this.
“We did have a policy in place,” he said. “Under the last administration, they decided to rewrite the policy and it has been up for review… for some months now. So currently we do not have a policy that is being enforced.”
When I told this to Blanco, he shrugged in disappointment.
“I loved my job, man. I wanted to work there until I was 65,” Blanco said. “I loved going to calls and having that camaraderie with other officers, helping people who need it.”
The broader question here is should police officers be forced to cover up their visible tattoos while on duty? When I posted this question, with current photos of Blanco, on my Facebook page, it sparked a heated debate.
“He looks like a thug,” one woman replied.
“Who cares as long as he serves and protects us,” countered another reader.
Other local police departments are hit or miss regarding tattoo policies. Some forces, such as Chesterton and the Lake County sheriff’s police, do not have a policy or formal regulation. Other departments, such as Valparaiso, Indiana State Police, and the Porter County sheriff’s police, have policies in place.
“The display of any tattoo or brand, regardless of its location or size, is prohibited while on duty or in uniform. All tattoos and brands shall be covered from view,” one policy states.
“Body art, tattoo(s), intentional scarring, or mutilation shall not be located on the head, scalp, face, neck, ears, hands, palms, or fingers of any Department employee,” states another policy.
I personally know several police officers whose arms, legs and back are covered with tattoos, but none on their face, hands or neck, as Blanco sports.
Blanco recalled instances on the job that ended successfully and people were helped. His tattoos, he said, “had nothing to do with how I did my job.”