Police investigate officer over online post

NEW BEDFORD, Mass.—The New Bedford Police Department is investigating an officer whose picture appears on a Web site in which he is soliciting for a companion while wearing his uniform and sitting in a police cruiser.

NBC 10 has learned that the officer, Norman Duchesnau, appeared on craigslist.org. The site, Craigslist.org, is a central network of online communities featuring free online classified advertisements and forums on various topics.

“Certainly it is a picture of one our police officers,“ Lt. Jeffrey Silva of the New Bedford Police Department. “How it got there, I’m not sure.“

Silva said the department is conducting the investigation because Duchesnau appeared in the picture in his uniform which is against department policy.

“Now that the department is aware of it, it’ll have to be looked at and a decision will be made accordingly,“ Silva said.

Silva said he’s not sure how the picture ended up on the Web site.

“It could be any range of things,“ he said. “The officer put it there himself. It could have been a private picture of himself that somebody else posted. It could have been a fabrication that someone else Photoshopped.“

Duchesnau told NBC 10 that he didn’t post the picture and wants to know who did.

“I’m looking into it,“ he said.

Duchesnau remains on duty pending the outcome of the department’s investigation.