Northern California Officer Disciplined For Texting Explicit Photo Of Woman Under Arrest
PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) - A detective with the Palo Alto Police Department has been disciplined for forwarding an explicit photo of a suspect from a cellphone while the woman was under arrest, an audit report reveals.
It's the second case in recent months in Northern California in which law enforcement officers secretly obtained then shared photos of women, the San Jose Mercury News reported Wednesday.
In his report, Police Auditor Mike Gennaco said the Palo Alto detective looked through the woman's cellphone during a 2013 burglary investigation. The detective was trying to determine where stolen property was sent.
Gennaco said the detective found a photo of the woman scantily clad and sent it to his supervisor, who was also working on the case.
The woman later discovered the photo had been sent and reported it.
The audit says a department investigation found the detective exercised poor judgment and had no legitimate reason to forward the photograph.
The Police Department "found that the detective had violated department policy and held him accountable," the audit said.
The audit does not name the detective. It says he was disciplined but did not elaborate. The newspaper said it was told by Gennaco that the detective remains on the job.
Palo Alto Police Lt. Zachary Perron in an emailed statement to The Associated Press said he was unable to comment on the personnel matter beyond what was in the audit report.
The department did not forward the case to prosecutors for their review, the Mercury News said.
In October, California Highway Patrol officer Sean Harrington, who worked in the Dublin station, was charged with two counts of felony computer theft after two women accused him of taking nude and explicit photos from their phones while they were under arrest in drunken driving cases.
Harrington resigned and apologized through his attorney to the women and his colleagues in law enforcement. He has pleaded not guilty.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.