ABC-7 at Six: Las Cruces Fire Fighter disciplined over photo
actions. it’s all because of a photo. take a look. it shows his wife breastfeeding while in his uniform. the el paso photographer who snapped this photo first posted it on her facebook page. it has since gained national attention, even being featured today in cosmopolitan. abc-7’s jamie warren is live from our new mexico mobile newsroom. jamie? the president of the firefighter’s union says the firefighter is being disciplined — not because his wife is breastfeeding in his uniform — but because he violated department policy. the policy states, quote: l-c-f-d personnel shall not authorize any party to use photographs or any depictions for the purpose of promoting or endorsing a product or service without written permission from the fire chief or his designee. such items include, but are not limited to: – lcfd uniforms – badges – patches – stations and facilities. the firefighter won’t be suspended or terminated over the photo … but the union still plans to appeal the disciplinary action suggested by the department. the el paso photographer who took the photo tells me if she knew she or the firefighter were breaking policy, she would have never posted the photo on social media. she also says the photo was for her own personal use … and is asking if this is the first time the department disciplines a firefighter over something like this: phoner tara ruby: “are there an other photos on social media of the firefighters? and was that approved ahead of time? we’re there other that went on? you have to start asking those kinds of questions. because if you’re going to discipline one, you need to discipline them all.” the union president says the highest form of discipline the firefighter can face is a written reprimand. he did not know how long the appeal process will take. it’s important to note the firefighter’s wife never mis- represented herself as a firefighter. jamie thank you for that report. a tentative agreement. that’s what we reported yesterday. meaning the l-c-p-s bus
