(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) A proposed rule change in North Carolina threatens to ban law enforcement from having sex while on duty, in police vehicles or in uniform, Raleigh’s News & Observer reported.
Officers would further be prohibited from sex on police premises, with direct subordinates, or with students or instructors in police training programs.
The proposal being considered by the state’s Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission stemmed from confusion and inconsistent standards.
“We want to be clear so folks can stay out of trouble and can remain certified to do their important work in their communities,” said commission chair Chris Blue, a former Chapel Hill police chief and town manager.
The measure also would address lying during internal or criminal investigations. And it would seek to clarify the conditions under which police certifications may be suspended, revoked or denied in order to help officers “understand where the guardrails are,” Blue said.
Other law enforcement organizations in the state also were considering the update to current guidelines, which simply stipulate that officers must demonstrate “good moral character.”
Although some contend that the line should be self evident, it has been tested in previous disciplinary hearings and court cases that argued the punishment didn’t fit the “crime.”
Mikael Gross, an attorney who represents officers at disciplinary hearings, said the commissions had recently begun cracking down after long allowing indiscretions to slide—perhaps due to a critical police shortage during the “defund the police” era.
In at least six prior cases spanning from 2010 to 2023, officers fought to retain their badges and certifications even when found to have demonstrated poor judgment. That included a 2023 case in which an officer was caught having sex with two women while on duty.
Another such case, in 2017, involved a married officer having sex with a woman in his patrol car and on the hood. The woman later reported it out of concern that nude photographs of her might be discovered on the officer’s phone. But the commission ruled that, by time of the hearing, the officer had already been “rehabilitated” and no further action was warranted.
Randy Hagler, who previously served as president of the North Carolina Fraternal Order of Police, said some members were “a little embarrassed” about the need to clarify the moral standards.
“Obviously, we expect our officer members to be moral and tell the truth,” he told the News & Observer.
Ben Sellers is a freelance writer and former editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/realbensellers.
