Offenders with big tattoos educated amid crackdown on gang crimes

Police in Jinan, East China’s Shandong Province, are getting serious against big tattoos in the fight against gang-related crimes.

Liu Xiangguo, the director of the Huaiyin district justice bureau in Jinan, had a meeting Wednesday with 13 people who are serving a term of community-based correction. They were detained for different offenses, but all sport big tattoos.

During the meeting, Liu inquired about the purpose of their tattoos and when they got them. He urged them to learn about laws and regulations, avoid being tempted by gangs into committing crimes again, and actively participate in the anti-gang-crime campaign by giving criminal-related tip-offs to public security and judicial organs.

Liu was relieved after learning that most of their tattoos were created out of curiosity when the convicts were young with no criminal intent, and that these tattoos brought them great inconvenience in daily life. He asked them to have the tattoos removed as soon as possible, write out their experiences and submit what they learned to the judicial office for the record.

Offenders who participated in the talk said they benefited greatly from it and vowed to follow all the regulations in the community correction center and do their bit in the fight against gang-related crimes.

Authorities have pledged to step up efforts to fight gangs to make society feel more secure.