Acquitted Tulsa officer to return to work

TULSA — A white Oklahoma police officer acquitted in the killing of an unarmed black man last year will be allowed to return to the force, although she won’t be allowed on patrol, Tulsa’s police chief said Friday.

Police Chief Chuck Jordan announced in a one-sentence email that officer Betty Jo Shelby will return to active duty. Shelby has been on unpaid leave since being charged Sept. 22 with first-degree manslaughter in the shooting of 40-year-old Terence Crutcher. A jury found Shelby innocent Wednesday, although the foreman said in a memo filed with the court Friday that jurors weren’t comfortable with the idea that she was “blameless” in Crutcher’s death.

Shelby plans to return to work on Monday, said her attorney, Shannon McMurray. Shelby is still the subject of an internal affairs investigation, which is standard procedure for officers involved in similar shootings.

Crutcher’s family had called Thursday for city leaders to block Shelby from returning to her job. A family spokesman didn’t return a call seeking comment Friday.

Crutcher was shot after Shelby approached him in a city street where his SUV had broken down. Shelby had said she fired her weapon out of fear because Crutcher ignored her commands to lie down and kept reaching into his pockets. But prosecutors said she overreacted, arguing that Crutcher had his hands in the air and wasn’t combative.