Sleeping on the job can get you in quite a bit of trouble, especially if your job is protecting the city from crime. That’s why Chicago Police have decided to suspend an officer for five days without pay after a video surfaced of him sleeping in his police cruiser while he was supposed to be monitoring the streets.
The video, which was originally posted to Facebook and has since gotten a tremendous amount of views, clearly shows the officer taking a nap in his vehicle. The cameraman, who has since been identified as Julian Collins, first panned around the busy street and provided some commentary before showing the napping officer. Even when Collins stepped up close to the vehicle and continued filming, the officer was completely undisturbed.
“This incident is unacceptable and not in keeping with the high expectations placed on our officers by this department and the residents of Chicago,” Chicago Police said in a statement.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel was also asked to comment on the incident but he said he didn’t want to say much, as the investigation into the matter was ongoing at the time. He did, however, praise the Chicago Police Department as a whole, saying, “We have a lot of good men and women in uniform throughout the police department who do things both on duty and off duty that carries both the spirit and being a public servant.”
A spokesman for the Fraternal Order of Police says the officer understands he made a mistake and that he is complying with the punishment.