Serving and Protecting

June 18, 2012 permalink

A picture of a Niagara Regional Police officer sleeping on the job was posted on Facebook, and has made it into the press.

Silver lining: Niagara children prefer this to seeing a cop escorting a social worker during an apprehension.

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Police officer photographed snoozing in cruiser

By Grant LaFleche, The Standard, Monday, June 18, 2012 2:32:58 EDT PM

A photo of an unidentified Niagara Regional Police officer, apparently sleeping her in cruiser, has become a local internet sensation.

The undated photo, taken at an unidentified location, shows a blonde police officer sitting in her unlocked cruiser, hands folded across her lap, mouth open, evidently asleep. A person in a grey sweater, taking a picture of the officer can be seen in the reflection of the cruiser’s driver’s side window. The camera hides the person’s face.

The Niagara Regional Police had little to say about the photo, which has made the rounds on Facebook and Twitter, but did say the officer in question has been identified

“From a performance and officer safety perspective, NRP will be looking into the circumstances in which the photo was taken,” said NRP spokesman Derek Watson in an email to The Standard.

The source of the photo is as yet unknown. The photo appears to have been posted by a Facebook user named Stephanie Gogo on a page called “People Unite Against Police Brutality” on June 12. Gogo could not be reached for comment.

This weekend another Facebook user Pat Hudak who goes by the handle “Pat Niagara,” a self identified member of a protest group called Canada Court Watch, circulated the photo to the Facebook pages of Niagara newspapers, including the St. Catharines Standard.

Hudak said he posted the photo as part of court watch’s mandate to protest what he called “the mush sector” of police, the courts and other public agencies. However, he said he does not want the officer to loose her job.

“We absolutely do not want to see this lady fired. Absolutely not,” said Hudak. “I think she needs to be taken aside and given a strict talking to. Being asleep with her door unlocked is dangerous to her and the public. But she shouldn’t be fired.”

Source: Niagara Falls Review

Pat Niagara collected two tv programs and a radio broadcast on this incident. CHCH news, Square Off (CHCH TV), Knockout (radio) all mp4.