Police headquarters have confirmed the authenticity of a viral video showing police officers engaging in sexual intercourse in broad daylight in a patrol car.

Those involved have also been identified and have been suspended. One is said to have been off duty at the time. The other was not.

The police have ordered criminal and disciplinary investigations. Criminal charges could include neglect of duty and performing an indecent act in public.

“Such actions and behaviours are unacceptable as they insult the work of thousands of our members,” the police said.

The video was captured by a Larnaca resident and it went viral on social media, exposing the force, as it shows two police officers, reportedly a man and a woman, in sexual acts in their patrol car, which they parked in an open space.

From the video it appears that the officers were unperturbed by the fact that they were in public view in broad daylight.

Comments on social media are ridiculing the force amid at a time when police HQ and Justice Minister Marios Hartsiotis are on alert monitoring the explosive situation and exchange of missiles in the nearby Middle East.

Although the pair were unidentifiable to the public in the video, reports said police are trying to track down the person who filmed the public tryst said the investigation and to examine whether there had been a violation of personal data.

Amid the widespread mockery, police spokesperson Kyriaki Lambrianidou also called for some sensitivity as children and families are involved.

The person who filmed could have handed the video over to police rather than post it online for public consumption, she told the Cyprus News Agency.

Lambrianidou said the investigations have been undertaken by the directorate of professional standards and inspection.

A statement from the Cyprus Police Association later on Wednesday called for “human understanding” despite that “such behaviours have no place in the police and are condemnable”.

“From the very beginning, the leadership of the force gave instructions for an immediate investigation of the incident, so that any responsibilities that arise can be attributed. The public’s trust is precious to us and there is no room for excuses on issues of ethics and professionalism,” an announcement said.

“At the same time, however, we are watching with concern the way in which the public debate has been diverted into a tidal wave of discredit for the entire police force,” it added.

The association said it was “unfair” that an isolated incident was being used to “colour the police force, the people who fight on the streets every day with professionalism and often at the risk of their lives so that people can feel safe.”

It called on the public to show some composure and allow the case to be investigated properly and fairly.

“We need to see some truth, justice and human understanding,” it concluded.

Commissioner for Personal Data Protection, Irini Loïzidou Nicolaidou in a statemen said the individuals featured in the video are responsible for their actions but although the general public cannot identify the individuals from the video alone, “the priority is to protect the privacy of their families, especially if there are minor children involved”.

Any information that directly or indirectly identifies or affects or stigmatises these families in any way should not be published, she said.

“I believe that our society has now reached a level where it can evaluate when the publication of information serves public debate and when it simply harms the lives of third parties who are not involved in an incident,” she concluded