1994
The year is 1994.
Controversy- August 1994
New York City police officer Carol Shaya was caught in the flashing lights of an NYPD conduct controversy and media frenzy after appearing on the cover of the August 1994 issue of Playboy. Her arresting pictorial, dubiously titled "NYPD Nude: One of New York's Finest Steps Out of Uniform," brought to life many a citizen's naughty cop fantasy. Her superiors in City Hall, however, were far from captivated by the 24 year old's nudie layout with handcuffs and a nightstick, which earned Shaya a cool $100,000. After only three years in the force, Shaya was reassigned from her beat in the Bronx to a desk job shortly before the issue hit newsstands. Eventually, a misconduct case was opened for misuse of her uniform and the police department logo. According to the New York Times, she was stripped of her badge a few months later. In a statement, Police Commissioner William Bratton wrote, "The reputation of the New York City Police Department is not for sale, and there is no room in our organization for anyone who would attempt to do so."
The now-ex-cop grabbed headlines two years later with a $10,000,000 law suit against the NYPD on the grounds of discrimination. Shaya's suit was overturned, as was her appeal to be reinstated to the police department. In 2004, the New York Times followed up with the cop-turned-cover model, discovering she was working as a real estate agent in Queens.
Shaya's saga wasn't the first time a cop was in the hot seat for posing in Playboy. Twelve years earlier, Barbara Schantz, a police officer in Springfield, Ohio, caught national attention for posing nude in the May 1982 issue of Playboy. She was suspended without pay and ordeal was adapted into a made-for-TV movie in 1983.
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