The Special Reserve Police officer who was recently suspended from her job and was threatened with eviction from her apartment after suggestive photos of her in uniform surfaced on social media, has been offered a job with a matching salary by another employer.
The SRP was suspended last Tuesday pending an investigation into the photographs, which showed the officer lying on a couch in a suggestive position clad in her police uniform. The photographs went viral and an investigation was immediately launched by the Ministry of National Security.
The SRP, who was assigned to the Transit Unit, was suspended without pay and has sought legal advice from attorney Christopher Rodriquez over a media house’s decision to use the photo on its front page.
The Police Service Social and Welfare Association has called on acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams to reconsider his decision with respect to the suspension of the officer.
In making its appeal, the body said the SRP was in her first trimester of pregnancy and a single mother and was also threatened with eviction from her current home by her landlord following the controversy which flared after the photos went viral on social media.
The body says it is hoping they will be able to meet with Williams to address the suspension this week.
In an interview with the T&T Guardian yesterday, secretary of the association, Insp Anand Ramesar, said they will be seeking to meet with Williams to get him to make a quick decision.
“He (Williams) indicated he has suspended her and engaged in an investigation to determine if the officer committed a misconduct in relation to those photos.
We are not resisting an investigation into the photographs. We don’t support the process where it was to suspend her,” he said.
Ramesar said there was also no policy for the usage of social media.
“We don’t have a social media policy so the dynamics in relation to the photo and circumstances, it is new grounds, so don’t make her a guinea pig,” he said.
He said the CoP should take the situation on board and try to understand what went on but manage it carefully, noting suspension was not the way. However, he said the SRP had received assistance and was offered employment by a member of the public.
“Somebody offered a job and a salary to match the salary,” he said.