In full uniform, a former 'police officer of the year' was filmed on surveillance camera WARNING: If you do not want to see the photos, do not view more than the first image

A New Mexico State Police who was caught on surveillance camera having sex on the hood of a car fully uniformed, is now on administrative leave.

The surveillance images, which surfaced Monday, show a uniformed officer apparently having sex in broad daylight with an unidentified woman on the hood of her Honda outside car the gate of a county-owned ranch south of Santa Fe, reports the Santa Fe New Mexican.

The surveillance camera that caught the images had been set up to try and catch vandalism, according to CBS radio station WTIC.

Although the identify of the officer was not released, the New Mexican identifies him as Bert Lopez, who was honoured in May 2010 as the New Mexico State Police District 1 Officer of the Year.

Lopez, commended for going above and beyond the call of duty, is now reportedly on paid administrative leave and facing possible disciplinary action for an incident that has caused embarrassment to the department. Police reportedly confirmed that that the officer has been on paid leave for several weeks.

The state police released a statement on Tuesday saying,  "the internal affairs investigation is complete, now we are awaiting a final decision on any disciplinary action that could be taken".