Controversy over racy photos of San Antonio cop

WOAI
Published: December 4, 2008

New photos of a San Antonio Park Police officer posing with a woman who is exposing her breasts have surfaced.

The pictures were anonymously e-mailed to NBC television affiliate WOAI.

Park Police Chief Steve Baum said he had no idea they existed when confronted with the pictures.

“On the surface, it’s certainly not appropriate conduct, not something I would expect any police officer to be engaged in,“ Chief Baum said.

Chief Baum added that there will be an investigation into the behavior of the officer, who is now a sergeant.

“We have certain expectations of people we place in a position of trust and we need to hold them to those expectations, and we need to hold people accountable,“ explained Chief Baum.

It is not against the department’s policy to pose for photos, but the chief expects his officers to act appropriately.

It’s not known whether or not the officer arrested the woman, but Chief Baum says it didn’t appear that he did.

When asked if the officer’s actions could warrant his firing, Chief Baum answered, “It certainly could rise to that level. Yes.“

This is the second set of photos sent to WOAI showing law enforcement officers posing with women.

The first showed San Antonio Police officers.

All of those officers were all recently reassigned.

Chief Baum said what happens to the sergeant in his department will depend on the outcome of the investigation.

Regardless, several San Antonio taxpayers are not happy.

“It’s unprofessional,“ said one person. “These are the same people we have to deal with and call us out when we’re doing things that are not correct.“

“This is our city. We should not be represented like that at all,“ added another.

Chief Baum said his officers do have some discretion on when they arrest people depending on the circumstances.

That is the reason he wants to wait for the investigation to be completed to see if this young woman should have been arrested.

The chief added that the uniform worn by the officer implies the photo was taken at least a year ago since the they switched to blue uniforms last fall.