LOWELL — The Lowell police officer who was placed on paid administrative leave for allegedly sleeping, with a pillow, in a marked cruiser while on-duty was previously disciplined for a very similar offense, The Sun has learned.

The police officer in question is Jeffrey Moore, a patrolman on the overnight, or 1-9 a.m. shift, who earns nearly $85,000 annually.

The Sun published a photograph on Page 1 last Friday showing a Lowell police officer who appears to be asleep behind the wheel of his cruiser with his seat reclined on Highland Street near the Rogers School. The reader-submitted photograph was snapped at about 5:30 a.m. the previous day.

Four independent sources have confirmed the officer in the photograph is Moore.

Police Superintendent William Taylor has not identified Moore. But Taylor did issue a press release Saturday afternoon confirming the police officer was placed on paid administrative leave.

In the short statement, Taylor said internal affairs investigators have spent two days reviewing the images of the officer. Their probe is ongoing.

“While extremely embarrassing, this is not representative of the hardworking and dedicated men and women of the Lowell Police Department,” Taylor said in the statement. “In the past two years the Lowell Police have made great progress toward our goal of making Lowell a safer city. Two consecutive years of crime reductions, nationally recognized community policing programs, and a commitment to archive accreditation are the true measure of the employees I am proud to work alongside. This behavior will not be tolerated, the citizens of Lowell and my brother and sister officers deserve better.”

But on at least two previous occasions, the police department discovered Moore asleep while on duty, sources told The Sun.

According to those sources, in the spring of 2014 Moore was found asleep in his cruiser on the grounds of the former Middlesex Training School in the Highlands. The Princeton Street grounds is currently occupied by UMass Lowell. Moore was suspended.

Previously, while Moore coached the Dracut High School football team, Dracut officials discovered him sleeping in a school athletic complex off Lakeview Avenue during his shift. As coach, Moore had access to the facility. Dracut officials brought it to the attention of Lowell officials. It is unclear if Moore was suspended for that.

But just six months ago, Moore was suspended for five days when he left his gun and gun-belt in his cruiser at the end of his shift. The equipment was found by the police officer who took over the cruiser for the next shift.

The Sun reported in February that Moore, who lives in Nashua, was named head football coach at Bishop Guertin High School, also in Nashua. He also served as defensive coordinator at Framingham State University and helped coach the Lowell High and Groton School football teams.

But it was in Dracut where he made his mark. In 2008 he earned Sun and Merrimack Valley Conference Coach of the Year awards after taking the MIAA state championship.

Moore did not return a message left on his cell phone or an email. Moore is the son of Gerald Moore, who served as city solicitor under former City Manager Joseph Tully in the early 1980s.

Follow Scott on Twitter @cscottlowellsun.