Palmer Police Chief reinstated

Palmer Police Chief Dwayne Shelton will be back on the job after spending the last two weeks on administrative leave.

“Chief Shelton was reinstated and will be back to work tomorrow morning,” Palmer interim city manager John Diumenti said in his manager’s report to the Palmer City Council during a regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday night.

Palmer councilmember John Alcantra asked Diumenti for an update on the status of Shelton, who announced during a council meeting on Oct. 8 that he had been placed on paid administrative leave by former city manager Stephen Jellie.

“At 3:42 p.m. Mr. Jellie placed me on paid administrative leave. I received a written letter at 5:45 p.m. He ordered me to turn in my badge and gun, threatened to have me arrested by the state police,” Chief Shelton said as the room went silent at the news during the Oct. 8 meeting. “I believe this is a retaliatory action because I brought forth public safety concerns and employee rights regarding significant policy changes he is implementing.”

Shelton spoke during a tumultuous council meeting on Oct. 8 as much of the public voiced their opinions against policy changes that the new city manager has implemented, including dismantling the Palmer Dispatch and having emergency calls routed through Mat-Com, and suspending the PPD’s home car program, which allowed officers to take police vehicles home and use them to respond to emergencies as needed.

This is a developing story. Continue to see frontiersman.com for more.

Contact Frontiersman managing editor Jeremiah Bartz at editor@frontiersman.com.