A photograph of a traffic police officer working on the road. Photos are not related to the content of the article. News 1
– Controversy is arising when a police officer calls a car driven by a woman for a signal violation and then admonished her to cover her tattoo.
According to the police on the 24th, on the afternoon of the 21st, a traffic police officer cracked down on a vehicle operated by a female driver in her 30s on a road near Changsin Station of Subway Line 6 in Jongno-gu, Seoul. It is because of the signal violation.
As a result of checking the black box, it was concluded that the driver was driving at a yellow light, but it was not a traffic violation. However, the traffic police officer told the driver,’Go around with your tattoo in front of the police. I can crack down on it.’ When the driver protested, saying,’Try cracking down’, the traffic police officer sent the driver without actually cracking down.
The driver’s right arm has a 7cm animal-shaped tattoo on the wrist. Under the Minor Crimes Penalty Act, if a tattoo is deliberately exposed in public facilities and gives disgust, a fine of not more than 100,000 won, detention, or fine punishment. The driver is in a car and does not fall under this law. The driver is known to have claimed that a male traffic police officer made a statement that seemed to ignore him because he was a woman.
The police also eased tattoo restrictions in recent personnel recruitment regulations, such as allowing the police to become a police officer if there is no problem with the content even if the body has a tattoo from this year and if it is not exposed outside of clothes. It is pointed out that there is a problem with traffic police officers pointing out citizens’ tattoos in automobiles as social awareness of tattoos has changed.
A police official said, “If the gangsters threaten with tattoos, they can be punished as a misdemeanor, but it is wrong for the police officers to say that even as a joke during the crackdown.”
Reporter Oh Wonseok [email protected] 
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