LAPD Officer Leaves Uniform Off for Playboy

Ginger Harrison picked the props for her nude photo session for Playboy magazine with great care.

After all, the last police officer to pose for the periodical--a New York City woman--was fired because she appeared in her official uniform.

So Harrison, a Los Angeles police officer, made sure she didn’t repeat that mistake.

The 28-year-old Santa Clarita resident is believed to be the first sworn LAPD officer to shed her clothes for Playboy magazine. The magazine features a six-page pictorial of Harrison posing nude with police props provided by the magazine.

“I hope the [Police] Department looks at this in a positive way,” the Foothill Division veteran said. “Maybe it can bring us into the 21st century where women don’t fit a stereotypical role. Lighten up. It’s just nudity.”

The LAPD has called on the city attorney’s office to determine whether posing for the photos violates department policy in any way, said Sgt. John Pasquariello.

New York Police Officer Carol Shaya was fired after she used her own police equipment to pose in Playboy in 1994, said magazine spokesman Bill Farley.

“We made sure the uniform and the cruiser in Ginger’s shoot were all props,” Farley said.

Harrison said she has good rapport with her co-workers and is not afraid of any ensuing discomfort.

“I deal with locker room mentality every day,” she said. “They’re just a bunch of guys.”

Harrison, a Michigan native, moved to Los Angeles when she was 19. She hoped to emulate her father by becoming an FBI agent, but gave up when the bureau announced a hiring freeze, she said.

Farley said Harrison’s photo feature is part of a monthly series displaying working women in the buff.

“Everyone, including [Playboy], has big stars posing,” he said. “But when you get a real person with a real occupation and they’re also gorgeous, it’s hard to beat.”

LAPD Capt. Kenneth Garner, of Harrison’s Foothill Division, laughed out loud when interviewed about his officer, who is off duty to promote the magazine.

“We’re going to keep an eye on the atmosphere to make sure nothing inappropriate happens when she comes back,” Garner said.