Photos of sleeping officers spark investigation

(Richmond, Ind.) Palladium-Item

A pair of Indiana police officers could face disciplinary action after photos of them sleeping in a local cemetery surfaced on social media Saturday morning.

The post, which was also shared to at least one Facebook group, was captioned, "Check out what we just found at St. Andrew's Cemetery." It includes several images of two officers with the Richmond Police Department, who have not yet been identified, sleeping in a police cruiser along one of the cemetery's roads around 8 a.m. They appear to be in uniform.

Richmond Police Chief Jim Branum said he plans to launch an internal investigation on the matter.

"Obviously, it's not OK," he said. "It's certainly something that's not encouraged. We're aware of it and we're going to launch an internal investigation and in all likelihood there'll be some discipline."

The post as of 10 a.m. drew several comments and hundreds of shares.

It is not clear if the officers were awoken by the original poster. The original poster has not responded to an attempt to reach her.

Branum said there is a policy with the department against officers sleeping on the job.

"I think it's common sense; I wouldn't want to call for police action and have an officer sleeping somewhere," Branum said. "And people with any other job would not be allowed to sleep while they're working."