INMATES GET CHANCE TO SHED UNSIGHTLY GANG TATTOOS.Byline: Christopher Noxon Daily News Staff Writer The Ventura County Sheriff's Department The Ventura County Sheriff's Department (VCSD) provides law enforcement for the unincorporated areas of Ventura County, California, USA, as well as several cities within the county. The cities that VCSD serves are Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Ojai, and Thousand Oaks. has purchased a $90,000 laser machine to remove tattoos from inmates at four county jails who want to wipe their skin clean of reminders of their past lives. Available to prisoners enrolled in work and educational programs, the machine will offer qualifying prisoners a clean epidermal Epidermal Referring to the thin outermost layer of the skin, itself made up of several layers, that covers and protects the underlying dermis (skin). Mentioned in: Antiangiogenic Therapy, Histiocytosis X epidermal slate in advance of their release. Prisoners say that tattoos on their hands, arms and neck prevent them from finding work and turning their lives around, said Patricia Funchess, Inmate Services Program administrator for the Ventura County Sheriff's Department. ``This will help prisoners who really want to change,'' said Funchess. ``This way when they apply for a job they won't be immediately turned down.'' The machine - which goes by the full name of The Medlite Q-Switched Frequency Doubled Yag Laser YAG laser Yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser, Nd:YAG–neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet–laser. See Laser. - will be operated by volunteer doctors from the Landon Foundation. The machine was purchased with profits from prison stores collected in the Inmate Welfare Trust Fund. The machine was designed to prevent surges in laser intensity resulting in injury, said Funchess, but its use is covered by county accident insurance. Sheriff's Department officials hope to use the machine once a week at jails in Ventura, Santa Paula Santa Paula (săn`tə pôl`ə), city (1990 pop. 25,062), Ventura co., S Calif., on the Santa Clara River in a fertile valley that yields citrus fruits, avocados, vegetables, flowers, nursery products, and walnuts; laid out 1875, inc. , Ojai and Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. . Prisoners will be selected who demonstrate a serious intention to make a fresh start. ``We are not interested in taking off `Mary' so they can write in `Susan,' '' Funchess said. About the size of a trunk with an extending arm, the machine burns off tattoo ink Tattoo inks are pigments used in tattooing. Tattoo inks consist of a pigment and a carrier (see below). Tattoo inks are available in a range of colours which can then be thinned or mixed together to produce other colours and shades. with bursts of intense laser light. The machine was put to use for the first time last weekend at the Port Hueneme Port Hueneme (wī'nē`mē), city (1990 pop. 20,319), Ventura co., S Calif., on the Pacific coast; founded 1870, inc. 1948. It has an artificial deep-sea harbor and is the site of a huge naval construction-battalion (Seabee) center. Boys & Girls Club Girls Club is a 2002 American television series created by David E. Kelley, who was also it's producer and executive producer. Only two out of a total of thirteen episodes created were broadcast on Fox Television in the United States and Global Television in Canada. , where directors have offered tattoo removal with rented machines for the past two years. About 80 percent of the tattoos that end up under the gun are gang symbols and slogans originally applied by poking the skin with needles dipped in Indian ink, said Jaime Zendejas, program director at the club. Removing the tattoos can be a transforming experience, he said. ``A lot of these kids feel like they're branded,'' Zendejas said. ``Getting rid of the tattoos gives them confidence. You take the brand off and they're free to go anywhere and do anything. One girl said taking tattoos off her hands was like removing 50 pounds off her back.'' Initial reaction to the machine has been positive, said Funchess. ``At first we didn't think this would be a particularly good inmate program,'' she said. ``We figured inmates would want to keep tattoos that they paid for. But we were surprised by how many wanted to get rid of them.'' |
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