kame-sennin
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An Internal Affairs investigation has found a Philadelphia officer did not violate department policy by having an apparent Nazi tattoo on his left arm.
Photos of Officer Ian Hans Lichterman and his tattoos spread across social media late last summer, prompting angry reaction online and an Internal Affairs investigation.
The Internal Affairs investigation cleared Lichterman of any violations, closing the case in December, police said. They did not respond to follow-up questions inquiring whether any specific determinations were made about the tattoos.
Meanwhile, nearly five months after the controversy erupted, police brass have yet to deliver a promised tattoo policy for its ranks.
Photos of the tattoos, posted to Facebook by Evan Parish Matthews, showed a German eagle beneath the word "Fatherland" on Lichterman's left arm. The post indicated the photos were taken on July 26, 2016 at Philadelphias #BlackResistanceMarch during the Democratic National Convention.
The eagle appears to resemble one depicted in the Nazi Party's partieadler emblem, a symbol included in the Anti-Defamation League's "Hate Symbols Database."
That symbol features an eagle with outstretched wings, its head pointed left, and holding a wreath containing a swastika. The photos of Lichterman's tattoos did not show whether his eagle was perched on a swastika.
Mayor Jim Kenney, who previously called the tattoos "disturbing" and "incredibly offensive," released a statement that voiced the same reaction. But without an existing tattoo policy, Kenney said police could not dismiss Lichterman.
On Tuesday, John McNesby, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 5, reiterated his prior statements defending Lichterman, saying there was "nothing wrong" with the tattoos.
"There was nothing there to investigate," McNesby said. "He had a tattoo. There was no policy. He had it for years. He had no discipline. There was no issue with it."
http://www.phillyvoice.com/internal...s-philly-police-officer-apparent-nazi-tattoo/