ASP suspended over "hot cop" photos

A SUSPENSION notice has been issued by acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams for acting ASP Michael Sooker, whose inspector’s uniform was worn by a woman in an office at the Morvant Police Station.

Photographs of the woman were shared on social media networks last Friday, and an investigation was launched by Williams.

The police, in a tweet on its official Twitter account on Monday night, said the commissioner issued a suspension notice to be served on Sooker, of the North Eastern Division, “relative to an allegation discreditable conduct linked to photographs that surfaced on social media last week.”

Sooker, whose substantive rank is that of inspector, claimed he was being set up. The Professional Standards Bureau (PSB) officers who are investigating the photos were told that the woman was a regular visitor to that police station.

On Sunday, the PSB seized camera footage from the Morvant station. They began watching it yesterday.

According to the Police Service Act, anyone other than a police officer who does not have written permission from the CoP and wears a police uniform or any part of it is liable on summary conviction to a fine of $5,000 and to imprisonment for two years.