What not to be doing on duty.

[chadbag]

What not to be doing on duty.


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Surveillance photo shows officer in sex act: Some viewers may find this photo offensive | KOB.com



http://www.kob.com/article/stories/s2261131.shtml

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[shootist~]

Local news looking for something sensational to report. IIRC, from a later report, he was not on duty and not doing anything illegal.

[woodandsteel]

In uniform?

In Public?

That would cause definite job security issues up here.

[tgace]

In uniform?

In Public?

That would cause definite job security issues up here.

In Public is key here. Just because he was outside and/or because a camera caught it does not make an area "Public". Was this an area commonly travelled and/or viewed by "the public"?

This is my (NY) states Public lewedness law:

A person is guilty of public lewdness when he intentionally exposes the private or intimate parts of his body in a lewd manner or commits any other lewd act (a) in a public place, or (b) in private premises under circumstances in which he may readily be observed from either a public place or from other private premises, and with intent that he be so observed.

I don't believe that this was in a "public place". While I don't think anything "illegal" was going on here (and I think that has already been determined in this case), if he was on duty I would hope he would be in blatant violation of a dept. policy. i.e. "conduct unbecoming".

[woodandsteel]

Let me just rephrase it and say in Public View. The video came from somewhere.

As far as on duty or not, I believe it was reported somewhere else that he was off duty. I will give him the benefit of the doubt here.

However, up in my neck of the woods, something like this would get you in trouble, regardless of wether or not an actual criminal act had occurred. You're in uniform. You are representing the department, and in this case, your state.

I'm not passing judgement on what should happen to this officer/trooper. I just know that up here he'd, most likely, be looking for a new job. Especially if he was a State Patrol Officer.

[tgace]

Even off-duty, if you get caught in a jackpot wearing the uniform you can catch a "conduct unbecoming" charge in my dept. Conduct out of uniform, if someone ID's you as a cop, can land you in trouble too. We have fired guys for crap they did in bars while off duty (multiple times plus other issues of course).

My whole "In public" thing is in reply to some of the "why isnt he charged with public lewedness..." comments I have been seeing going around. "In Public" is a legally defined place. A security camera isnt viewable by "the public", and an area covered by a camera won't make it a "public place" by default. The woods behind my house isn't a "public place" and isnt posted so you wouldn't be tresspassing. If I set up a game camera and caught you and your GF "doing it" It still wouldn't be a "public place" or viewable by the public.

While an ugly PR incident I think this one is a tad overblown based on this one incident alone. The sex thing just makes it chum in the water for the media.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

To Protect and Service

[SteyrAUG]

Local news looking for something sensational to report. IIRC, from a later report, he was not on duty and not doing anything illegal.

Got a source for any of that?

Right now it looks like in uniform, on duty and in public.

[woodandsteel]

Even off-duty, if you get caught in a jackpot wearing the uniform you can catch a "conduct unbecoming" charge in my dept. Conduct out of uniform, if someone ID's you as a cop, can land you in trouble too. We have fired guys for crap they did in bars while off duty (multiple times plus other issues of course).

My whole "In public" thing is in reply to some of the "why isnt he charged with public lewedness..." thing I have been seeing going around. "In Public" is a legally defined place. A security camera isnt viewable by "the public", and an area covered by a camera won't make it a "public place" by default. The woods behind my house isn't a "public place" and isnt posted so you wouldn't be tresspassing. If I set up a game camera and caught you and your GF "doing it" It still wouldn't be a "public place" or viewable by the public.

While an ugly PR incident I think this one is a tad overblown based on this one incident alone. The sex thing just makes it chum in the water for the media.

Ok, I see what you're saying.

[Iraqgunz]

Apparently someone thinks he was on-duty and he is still facing disciplinary action- but not legal action.

http://news.yahoo.com/police-officer...233347092.html

Still doesn't make it a smart thing to do and in some jurisdictions it could have been worse.

Local news looking for something sensational to report. IIRC, from a later report, he was not on duty and not doing anything illegal.