When you get a job as a police officer, paramedic, or any of the vital services, there’s an unwritten law that you give up the freedom of getting to mess around on your phone at work. If you’re supposed to be saving people from a burning building, you really shouldn’t be posting selfies to Instagram. For whatever reason, the cop takes selfie thing exploded around 2015 and hasn’t slowed down. The whole phenomenon isn’t just gauche, it’s incredibly dangerous. On this list you’ll see that whenever a service member takes selfie on the job, something very bad happens. So if you’re supposed to be flying a plane or delivering a baby right now, put your phone away! Everyone else gets to enjoy this list of service members caught taking selfies.
If you keep an eye on the news you may remember some “firefighter takes selfie” headlines that were hanging around, but it wasn’t an isolated incident. Multiple firefighters in different countries thought it would be a good idea to take pictures of themselves in front of the burning buildings they were supposed to be saving.
In January 2017, a tragic fire destroyed a Long Island home. Standing in front of it were two cops - taking a selfie.
According to NBC New York, two offices stopped to take a picture in front of the fire. When another man stopped to take a picture, one of the police officers asked him to leave. Neighbors thought it was distasteful for the officers to make light of something so tragic. The Nassau County Police Department said its investigating the matter.
"If these officers are found to be in violation of any department rules and regulations, they will be appropriately disciplined," they told the news station.
Cop Caught Taking Selfie While Pedestrian Commits Suicide
In September 2014 a Turkish policeman was caught taking a selfie on the job while a man jumped 600 feet to his death from a bridge. A spokesman for the police said: "A full investigation into the officer's conduct is ongoing. Any breach of duty identified will be disciplined."
What do you do after arresting an alleged serial killer? The answer for one officer in the Ankara Police Department was "ask for a selfie." Atalay Filiz was arrested in İzmir, Turkey in June 2016, in connection with three unsolved murders in the country, dating back to 2013. His reply to the officer? "Let’s do it, brother."
Iraqi Commandos Take Selfies With ISIS Soldier Before Executing Him
In early 2016, Iraqi soldiers caught a suicide bomber whose explosives failed to detonate and beat him to death while one of the soldiers filmed the entire thing on his phone. Afterwards, at least one soldier took a selfie with the body.
A couple of NYPD officers arrested a guy in January 2016 for allegedly violating an order of protection. While he was at the precinct, the cops took his phone and mocked him by taking selfies and filming themselves acting the fool. The perp told NY Daily News, “I had mixed emotions about it, but I felt like they were trying to intimidate me and make fun of me.”
In August 2015, a Malaysian doctor got into all kinds of trouble when she posted a picture of herself flashing a peace sign while she was helping a woman in labor. Hopefully she waited until after the procedure to post the picture to Facebook.
