This project fills a gap in the literature of law enforcement response to a visible tattoo on a racialized female arrestee. With the increase in popularity of tattoos and their inherited status as a proxy for deviance, the entanglement of both racialized female bodies and symbols of deviance at the place of entry into the criminal justice system is significant. The racialized female body does not move without carrying the history of violence and inequality on it. As such, the entry of female bodies of Color into the criminal justice system is a time where capturing their experience is critical. In current law enforcement studies, the focus is on male offenders and Black male offenders using mainstream criminological perspectives. Additionally, the literature on arrest patterns of tattooed offenders, much less females of Color, is non-existent. Using an intersectional perspective, this project is a necessary analysis to fill this gap in the criminological body of knowledge
