For many people, joining the police force is a dream they harbor from a young age. Choosing to serve your local community and help protect innocent people is not only a respectful career choice, but an honor for many officers.

One woman who wanted to "make a difference" is 31-year-old Kathy-Rose Bullen from Melbourne, Australia. But after applying for the police force - a job she believed would suit her perfectly - she was informed that she broke the force's "professional and disciplined" image as a result of her heavily tattooed body.

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In an interview with news.com.au, Kathy-Rose said:

"I’ve got family in the police force and they said they love it and couldn’t recommend it enough, as the job is fantastic and they believed I would be really good at it if I wanted to pursue it.

"It’s only in the past couple of weeks I began physically training and trying to push myself a bit harder to do it."

However, once Kathy-Rose started looking more closely at the specific entry requirements, she discovered that her multiple inkings could thwart her dreams. Kathy-Rose has much of her body covered in bright and elaborate tattoos - including inkings of Pikachu, Charmander, Darth Vader, Kirby, and Princess Aurora (which I personally am incredibly jealous of, they're literally all my favorite things.)

Although the Victoria Police force does allow officers to have body art, tattoos on the hands, neck and face are strictly against protocol. Therefore, prior to filling out an application, Kathy-Rose made the decision to contact the police directly to see if her tattoos would rule her out.

Unfortunately, Kathy-Rose was told her inkings were "contrary to our requirement to portray a professional and disciplined image and would, therefore, be deemed exclusionary."

Despite feeling disheartened by the news, Kathy-Rose has said she completely respects the requirements set out by Victoria police. Nevertheless, she says she had "no regrets" about her stunning body art. She says:

"I’ve always had good jobs but not an actual career, and it’s a bit disappointing and disheartening that it’s 2019 and [tattoos] are still a bit of an issue.

"It’s disappointing that [a police career] is something I can’t pursue… but I wouldn’t change a thing. I feel like changing yourself physically — unless it’s exercise — just isn’t worth it, and I’ve never been rejected by any employer before based on my appearance.

"I do understand it is written [in the policy] but it is a bit hurtful as there are tattooed officers out there who cover up — just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean they’re not there."

Since news of Kathy-Rose's story broke, she has received a lot of backlash in comments sections regarding her appearance. It is also raised the questions of whether or not tattoos should ever be taken into consideration in a job application process.

Quite frankly, this is ludicrous. Nobody should ever be targeted as a result of how they look, and most importantly, Kathy-Rose's tattoos would never stop her performing any job. Maybe it's time Victoria police and other companies re-wrote their rulebooks?

After all, the results of a 2018 study from the University of Miami Business School and the University of Western Australia Business School concluded that perceptions of tattoos in the workplace have shifted significantly in recent years. Information from more than 2,000 individuals was collected and showed that - across all 50 US states - the annual earnings of tattooed individuals were "indistinguishable" from those with no inkings.

If you want to follow Kathy-Rose on Instagram, you can do so HERE.

For many people, joining the police force is a dream they harbor from a young age. Choosing to serve your local community and help protect innocent people is not only a respectful career choice, but an honor for many officers.

One woman who wanted to "make a difference" is 31-year-old Kathy-Rose Bullen from Melbourne, Australia. But after applying for the police force - a job she believed would suit her perfectly - she was informed that she broke the force's "professional and disciplined" image as a result of her heavily tattooed body.

[[jwplayerwidget||https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/TDPciQbu-Q0L14jDU.mp4||TDPciQbu]]

In an interview with news.com.au, Kathy-Rose said:

"I’ve got family in the police force and they said they love it and couldn’t recommend it enough, as the job is fantastic and they believed I would be really good at it if I wanted to pursue it.

"It’s only in the past couple of weeks I began physically training and trying to push myself a bit harder to do it."

However, once Kathy-Rose started looking more closely at the specific entry requirements, she discovered that her multiple inkings could thwart her dreams. Kathy-Rose has much of her body covered in bright and elaborate tattoos - including inkings of Pikachu, Charmander, Darth Vader, Kirby, and Princess Aurora (which I personally am incredibly jealous of, they're literally all my favorite things.)

Although the Victoria Police force does allow officers to have body art, tattoos on the hands, neck and face are strictly against protocol. Therefore, prior to filling out an application, Kathy-Rose made the decision to contact the police directly to see if her tattoos would rule her out.

Unfortunately, Kathy-Rose was told her inkings were "contrary to our requirement to portray a professional and disciplined image and would, therefore, be deemed exclusionary."

Despite feeling disheartened by the news, Kathy-Rose has said she completely respects the requirements set out by Victoria police. Nevertheless, she says she had "no regrets" about her stunning body art. She says:

"I’ve always had good jobs but not an actual career, and it’s a bit disappointing and disheartening that it’s 2019 and [tattoos] are still a bit of an issue.

"It’s disappointing that [a police career] is something I can’t pursue… but I wouldn’t change a thing. I feel like changing yourself physically — unless it’s exercise — just isn’t worth it, and I’ve never been rejected by any employer before based on my appearance.

"I do understand it is written [in the policy] but it is a bit hurtful as there are tattooed officers out there who cover up — just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean they’re not there."

Since news of Kathy-Rose's story broke, she has received a lot of backlash in comments sections regarding her appearance. It is also raised the questions of whether or not tattoos should ever be taken into consideration in a job application process.

Quite frankly, this is ludicrous. Nobody should ever be targeted as a result of how they look, and most importantly, Kathy-Rose's tattoos would never stop her performing any job. Maybe it's time Victoria police and other companies re-wrote their rulebooks?

After all, the results of a 2018 study from the University of Miami Business School and the University of Western Australia Business School concluded that perceptions of tattoos in the workplace have shifted significantly in recent years. Information from more than 2,000 individuals was collected and showed that - across all 50 US states - the annual earnings of tattooed individuals were "indistinguishable" from those with no inkings.

If you want to follow Kathy-Rose on Instagram, you can do so HERE.