For the second time in less than a year, Dallas Police Chief Daniel Comeaux has told his 3,000-plus officers to relax a little when it comes to uniform standards.
As The Dallas Express previously reported, cutting out “outdated tattoo and beard policies” was already flagged as a recruitment priority under the city’s post-2024 charter mandate to grow the department to 4,000 officers, and now even more modern changes have been made.
A recent internal “Chief’s Update” memo dated June 30 officially modifies the department’s Uniforms and Personal Appearance Orders to now allow officers to wear baseball caps, have certain hand and finger tattoos, and – in a first for the department – wear a small nose stud piercing while in uniform.
Under those new rules, officers can wear ball caps issued by the Quartermaster Unit or supplied by an approved police association.
Visible hand and finger tattoos are now also allowed, provided that the ink is approved by the department’s “Body Art Approval Board,” the same panel that has vetted tattoo requests since the policy was first started in 2024.
The nose piercing rule is the most detailed. Officers may wear one stud, on either nostril, but only in one of three approved styles: a plain metallic ball in gold or silver, a flat circular stud in gold or silver, or a single clear, round-cut gem. Nothing can measure more than 1.5 millimeters across, and the memo specifically rules out anything that “dangles, protrudes,” or comes in a colored stone, hoop, or cluster setting.
Prior city documents also show that the new tattoo policy builds on changes made two years ago under then-Chief Eddie Garcia. At that time, officers were allowed to display approved tattoos and wear neatly groomed beards. City officials described it as part of a bigger effort to modernize appearance standards for both the police and fire departments.
A Second Uniform Change in Under a Year
The timing of the uniform changes has garnered attention since it comes less than a year after Comeaux told officers they could swap their standard-issue hats for cowboy hats while on duty.
Comeaux himself celebrated the August 2025 rollout on social media, posting photos of officers “fitted for duty and ready to ride” and calling it one of the most requested changes he’d heard about during his first 100 days as chief. The move was pitched as both a nod to the city’s western heritage and a practical fix for officers standing in the Texas sun for hours at a time.
However, not everyone is on board with the style changes.
Some retired officers and residents say a cleaner, more traditional look earns more respect on the street. Others – including some current officers – see the change as overdue, since tattoos and piercings just are no longer taboo.
How Dallas Compares To Other Departments
Dallas isn’t breaking new ground in terms of loosening up on tattoo and uniform standards.
Houston police have let officers show tattoos on their arms, hands and legs since 2016, back when then-Chief Art Acevedo wanted to boost “employee comfort,” per Police1.com, though HPD still makes officers cover anything above the collar with makeup.
DPD: Still Hundreds Of Officers Short
The bigger picture in terms of officer recruitment or staffing numbers hasn’t changed much in Dallas. As previously reported by DX, Dallas is still budgeting for roughly 3,424 sworn officers in FY26 – hundreds short of the 4,000-officer minimum voters demanded when they passed Proposition U back in 2024.
Whether looser grooming and uniform rules move the needle on recruiting, remains to be seen.
