“There is no room for hate, prejudicial rhetoric, or divisive behavior in our organization,” Colonel Patrick Callahan told NJ.com.
The New Jersey State Police detective who was found after he went missing is now being investigated after rising concerns over his tattoos that contain wording tied to Neo-Nazi groups, officials said.
Jason Dare, 46, who went missing on March 19 after leaving a medical facility in Pennsylvania, has since been found alive, according to New Jersey Search and Rescue.
In an attempt to help find the missing man, the New Jersey State Police (NJSP) posted photos of the man to their Facebook, which has since been deleted.
The photos showed that Dare has a tattoo across his lower neck that said “Blood Honor.”
"Blood & Honour" was a slogan for Hitler youth and now is tied to white supremacy groups, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
As the photo of Dare spread across the internet, many users dug into his Facebook profile and found other images that allegedly showed more offensive tattoos, including iron cross tattoos and the head of a pitbull, which is associated with a skinhead group in Pennsylvania, NJ.com reported.
NJSP says it does not allow applicants for the division to have “tattoos/body art/brands on an applicant’s face, head, neck, scalp, hands, or any part of the exposed body,” according to its recruitment website. It is unclear why Dare's tattoos became the subject of an internal inquiry only after the pictures circulated online, according to NJ.com.
The superintendent of the NJSP, Colonel Patrick Callahan, told NJ.com that prior to going missing, Dare was on administrative leave, and now is under internal investigation regarding the tattoos.
“There is no room for hate, prejudicial rhetoric, or divisive behavior in our organization, an organization that was built on our core values of honor, duty, and fidelity,” Callahan told NJ.com.
