Army relaxes strict tattoo policy

… relaxing strict regulations that came out just last year. ABC-7’s andrew j. polk is live with our top story. rick, it wasn’t an april fools joke. the sargent major of the army clarified today the army is reversing course … letting soldiers get tattoos anywhere on their body as long they are not in their hands, wrists, necks, and face. “natural sound: tattoo needle gun buzzing” around this time last year, the army published tough new regulations… limiting visible tatoos soldiers could get… and even preventing soldiers that already had clearly visible tattoos from becoming officers. according to the army times, the change comes from the sargent major of the army, who listened to feedback from soldiers. i visited local tattoo shops in el paso, and the owners are happy the army is backtracking: richard rodriguez, tattoo artist: “It’s a decent pick up considering when you’re doing between 10 and 12, and now we’ll be up to around 15 to 18, yeah, that’s an extra $400 to $500. So it does, it makes a nice difference.” rick — one thing to point out. soldiers are still not allowed to get offensive or derogatory tattoos … regardless of wether those tattoos can be covered up. coming up at 6, we’ll hear more from tattoo shops and soldiers on what these changes could mean for the army. rick? a las cruces woman pleads “no contest” in connection with the deadly beating