Cairns officer on light duties over relationship with accused drug offender

A CAIRNS police officer is facing an internal investigation for a dating an accused drug dealer.

Constable Cristina Cidade and alleged cocaine supplier Cayle McElwee.

A CAIRNS police officer and former reality TV star is the subject of an internal investigation after forming a relationship with an accused drug dealer she met while working in the watch house.

Constable Cristina Cidade, 29, was placed on light duties earlier this year and was labelled a “traitor” by a senior colleague over the relationship which is believed to have started several months ago.

Her partner Kayle McElwee, 29, appeared in Cairns Magistrates Court yesterday charged with supplying cocaine and steroid possession after his home was raided as part of a major Cairns drug investigation.

Constable Cidade shot to fame more than six years ago while appearing on reality television star the Recruits, which followed the careers of several junior New South Wales police officers.

But that fame turned to infamy in 2009 when she faced disciplinary action for leaving a sensitive crime scene where a colleague had been almost bashed to death to take a phone call from comedians Hamish and Andy for a radio segment.

During the seven-minute on air call the comedian hosts attempted to convince the then-single officer to go on a blind date with Hamish Blake’s flatmate, “John’’, who “fell in love’’ with the officer after watching her on the Ten Network show.

It is believed she joined the Queensland Police Service in 2013 and has been in Cairns for more than a year.

Some colleagues are furious over the latest incident and have called for her to be sacked.

“She’s a traitor to the police and she’s a traitor to the community,” a senior officer said.

Another senior officer said it raised major issues over the QPS recruitment process given the earlier incident in NSW.

The Cairns Post understands the pair met when Mr McElwee was in custody in the watch house.

Their relationship was reportedly later revealed after she told a colleague.

It is believed the couple have been living together.

The QPS would not confirm the relationship or Constable Cidade’s current work status due to “confidentiality reasons”.

But a spokeswoman said a Declarable Associations Policy existed to deal with these type of incidents.

“The policy places obligations on members of the QPS to declare any association they may have

with any person which may give rise to the potential for a conflict of interest with the performance of their duties,” she said.

“These declarations are assessed and appropriate risk management processes put in place to manage those associations where necessary.”

She said Ethical Standards Command worked with regions across the state to assess compliance with the policy.

“For confidentiality reasons we are unable to comment further at this time,” she said.

Originally published as Cairns officer on light duties over relationship with accused drug offender