Several Orlando Police officers are in trouble for a viral video of them patrolling the Caribbean Carnival Festival, which took place a couple of weekends ago. The event is funded in part by Orange County, Florida, through the arts and cultural affairs program, which the officers apparently weren’t supposed to be taking part in.
In the video they’re doing nothing but sitting on or standing next to their golf cart while scantily-clad women dance around them. Smiling and laughing while in uniform and on duty is not up to the Orlando Police Department’s standards when it comes to this type of behavior.
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Doing nothing to stop it and allowing one of the women to climb up and twerk on top of the golf cart “does not reflect the professionalism expected of Orlando Police officers,” the department said of the video in a statement to FOX 35.
The Orlando Police Department added that it “does not condone this type of conduct and has launched an internal investigation to determine whether any department policies or regulations were violated.”
So much for community outreach on a no-harm, no-foul approach harm, no foul approach to the festival.
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The officers involved in the incident have been suspended for four months from working these kinds of “extra-duty events” pending the results of that internal investigation.
Jamie Copenhaver, a law enforcement expert, told FOX 35 that even if the officers didn’t initiate the unscheduled entertainment, they should have shut the dancing down. He expects the officers to use some common sense.
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He didn’t call for an extreme response to the dancing. Hitting the gas pedal on the golf cart and removing themselves from the scantily-clad women and their dancing would have been a reasonable response.
This is a matter of credibility for Copenhaver. This one seemingly innocent incident could cause problems for the officers down the road. That makes sense to me. What if they went on a call and were recognized? Would someone attempt to distract them by breaking out in dance or twerk?