June 2024

Disappearing Ink: New Laser Treatment Removes Tattoos to Open Doors

by John Rhine

The doctor walks up to Reginald Toliver, a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) inmate at Hospital Galveston, and hands him a pair of visors to protect his eyes during the procedure. The inmate smiles, slips them on, and suddenly he looks like he’s about to climb into a tanning booth.

“It’ll feel like a rubber band snapping you over and over,” said the doctor. “Are you okay with that?”

“Oh yeah. I’m just ready to get this stuff off my face.”

Toliver lies back and the doctor begins the process of removing several tattoos from his face. With each snap of the laser, heat obliterates ink particles under the skin, which allows the body to remove the ink particles over time. Toliver winces after the first zap, but his face relaxes, and after a few minutes, the doctor completes the procedure and Reginald has a brand-new look.

About 84 percent of the TDCJ’s prison population has been identified as having a tattoo. Coupled with the fact that most inmates will release back into the public sometime in the future, the demand for tattoo removal within the system is great.

“We are prioritizing tattoos that are on the neck, face, and hands and are either vulgar or related to organized crime or human trafficking,” said Sherri Cogbill, deputy division director of the Reentry and Integration Division (RID). “Those tattoos that are visible and would make most anyone conducting a job interview think twice about hiring.”

The inmates receiving the procedure that day explicitly stated that improving their post-release job prospects was the main reason they volunteered to have their tattoos removed.

“The job that I get in construction management, I can’t have tattoos above my neck,” said Salomon Diaz Jr., an inmate preparing to release on parole this year. “I was talking to my boss, and he was like, ‘You better have no tattoos on your face.’”

“It’s important to keep in mind that we’re not doing all of this for cosmetic reasons,” Cogbill said. “These tattoos are very real barriers to employment for our releasees. If we want 95 percent of our inmate population to have employment once they’re out, then we’re going to have to be innovative and meet inmates where they’re at.”

However, there are special qualifications for removing tattoos, particularly if they are gang related. Inmates must be parole-eligible and participating in pre-release programming or must have successfully completed a gang renouncement program and be identified as a confirmed ex-gang member. Because the removal process can take up to ten sessions, depending on the complexity of the tattoo, inmates must be a year or more away from their release date. Eligible inmates must have no disciplinary history of tattooing or possession of tattoo paraphernalia within one year prior to beginning the removal process.

Despite these restrictions, any inmate at any point in their incarceration is eligible to have human trafficking tattoos removed.

“We see tattoo removal as a method of empowering victims of human trafficking,” Cogbill said.

“Traffickers use tattoos to brand people who they view as property. What we are doing is intervening and saying, ‘No, these people do not belong to you. They are the authors of their own story now.’”

This philosophy is also an important reason behind removing gang-related tattoos: Remove the markings used to claim people and you undermine the power and influence of organized criminal enterprises.

That notion of taking back one’s own identity is part of the equation, as well, and tattoo removal is one of the ways that releasees can change their outward appearance to reflect the internal change that rehabilitation facilitates.

“I did this on my own. I was young. I was selfish,” said Christopher Fisher, one of the inmates who had several tattoos removed from around his eyes and face. “Now, I’m trying to do other things. I’ve been gone thirteen, almost fourteen years. I got my education. I’m in the entrepreneur program. I’m trying to go out there and get more opportunities.”

When he does release, Fisher and any other inmate who undergoes the procedure will have one fewer barrier to overcome when looking for a job or applying for housing, which then translates to a lower overall recidivism rate and safer communities statewide.