TPD Chief: 'Alleged Actions Of One Shouldn't Taint Whole Department'

Tulsa's police chief responded to the murder arrest of a veteran police officer, and he defended the decision to handle the murder case against Officer Shannon Kepler internally with TPD detectives.

Tulsa Police Chief, Chuck Jordan said the department has turned over the results of their investigation to the district attorney and charges are still pending.

8/6/2014 Related Story: Two Tulsa Police Officers Arrested After Fatal Shooting Of Daughter's Boyfriend

Jordan reiterated that TPD is working the case just as if it would any other homicide.

"This is a family violence case. This is not a TPD case," he said.

That’s how Jordan sees the murder case against one of his own officers and why he figures the alleged actions of one person shouldn't taint the reputation of an entire department.

“The officer was off duty, he did not use his service weapon, he did not use a police car; this was all about his family, not about him being a police officer," Jordan said.

The investigation and arrest of Shannon Kepler for murder, and his wife Gina as an accessory, was handled, according to Jordan, the same as any other homicide.

"We never assign it to someone who is a friend of that person. Just because someone knows who they are doesn't mean that's going to have any impact on how they investigate a case,” Jordan said. “It makes it harder anytime when we see someone wearing our badge in trouble, that hurts, but it that doesn't mean we're going to change how we investigate a crime.”

Shannon Kepler worked at the police academy for the last ten years, but was a patrol officer when Jordan was as well; the chief knows the suspect personally.

“Very reliable, very even tempered and I've made calls with Shannon. That he would be named as a suspect came as a big surprise to me,” Jordan said. “I've searched my brain to see what could we have done, and if people keep things like this in their family, there's not much you can do to spot something like this.”

Jordan said having an officer as a murder suspect is a blow to the department, but that he hopes to keep public confidence in the department as they wait for the case to be resolved.

The victim in the murder case, 19-year-old Jeremy Lake, will be buried this coming Wednesday.