The Chief of the Casper Police Department has announced that an officer that was injured in the line of duty earlier this year, remains on “administrative leave” status.
Chief Keith McPheeters spoke to a room of press, police staff, and city employees, during a press conference, just after 3:30 pm, Tuesday August 21st.
According to a letter from Attorney Don Fuller, the Police Chief is accused of asking an officer, injured during a suspect shootout, to come back to work, against doctor’s orders.
Jacob Carlson was one of two officers involved in an incident where police exchanged gunfire with a suspect, in May of 2018.
The suspect in the case had died, and Carlson was seriously injured by suspect gunfire. He has undergone multiple surgeries to date that have been described as “life saving.”
Officer Randi Garrett, who was also on the scene, was reportedly not physically injured in the exchange.
McPheeters expressed pride in Officer Carlson, on behalf of himself, the department, and the city, calling the officers actions “selfless and heroic.”
“We have been uniformly working diligently to facilitate his return to a meaningful, long-lasting, and satisfying career with the Casper Police Department,” the Chief read from a prepared statement.
As to the allegations, McPheeters says that after consultation with Carlson, he believed the officer’s release to duty was imminent.
“I anticipated releasing him from administrative leave,” McPheeters said. “And even offered a memorandum as such.”
Earlier, Thursday, Carlson’s attorney, Don Fuller, showed members of the press and image of a letter dated August 14th, signed by Police Chief Keith McPheeters, that announces that officer Carlson was being taken off of administrative leave and placed onto restrictive duty.
During a press conference with the Casper City Manager and Casper City Council members, City Manager Carter Napier claimed that the letter was drafted and signed but was never delivered. Carlson, however, told Oil City news that the memo had been delivered to him in a police department mailbox.
Despite the memo, McPheeters says that Carlson remains on “administrative leave.”
McPheeters did confirm that he had received no medical opinion as to Carlson’s health, before the morning of August 20th.
“Prior to yesterday afternoon, no medical opinion, in any form, had been provided to me, the city, or the department regarding whether Officer Carlson was, or was not, sufficiently recovered so as to perform limited, but worthwhile assignments within the department,” McPheeters read, during the Tuesday afternoon press conference. “On every step of this journey, I was acting on the information provided to me, and always in concert with what I believed to be in Officer Carlson’s long-term best interests.”
Fuller has told members of the media that, according to paperwork that they had received, Officer Carlson would not be able to get full compensation while on limited duty. Fuller saying that the officer would only be entitled to 80% of his pay, while on limited duty.
McPheeters did confirm, during the press conference, that an officer is released to full-time limited duty, the officer would get full-time pay. However if an officer was released to part-time limited duty, the pay would reflect a part-time status.
Don Fuller and Jacob Carlson were not present at the 3:30 pm Police Department press conference.
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