A public records request was submitted to the City of Shreveport and the following was submitted to WHYS.

A number of emails between the Chief of Police, Ben Raymond, various SPD personnel, private citizens, and members of the media were received.

Of note:

05/28/2020 0616 Chief Raymond places Sgt. Brent Mason on departmental leave with pay pending an IAB investigation into alleged policy violations. Suggests to recipients to wait until 0800 to place him on leave.

05/28/2020 0826 Chief Raymond requests an IAB affidavit for alleged violations of [SPD's] social media policy by Sgt. Brent Mason.

05/28/2020 0914 Sgt. Strickland confirms Sgt. Mason's departmental leave in accordance with SPD 301.09. Raymond affirms at 1129 to confirm with media.

05/29/2020 1035 Lt. Silva requests personnel re-scheduling to remediate Sgt. Mason's absence in leading "in part or whole" of the firearms instruction and the defensive tactics instruction at the [police] academy. Lt. Silva notes that Sgt. Mason "is/would've not been far off from 'promotion'". (WHYS did not receive any information indicating that Chief Raymond followed up with the replacement or reassignment of training at the academy)

06/04/2020 1237 Chief Raymond addresses an email to Lt. Muller and attorney Nikki Buckle of Stroud, Carmouche & Buckle asking whether additional Facebook posts made by an officer under investigation can be included in the investigation. Buckle responds at 1337 that Sgt. Mason has not been interviewed yet. Lt. Muller responds at 1340 that "all of it is related" and "you know how these things can go".

06/04/2020 1432 Chief Raymond responds with his decision to exclude Sgt. Mason's second Facebook post as part of the investigation so as not to "lose anything on a perceived technicality". He adds, "The additional post would not be that pertinent to my decision anyway."

You can find copies of these emails that we received as part of a public records request on our Records page, along with a copy of the Shreveport Police Department's social media and use of force policies.

• Raymond Mason Dept Leave 1
• Raymond Mason Dept Leave 2
• Raymond Mason IAB
• Raymond Mason Academy
• Raymond Mason Bayliss Times Response
• Raymond Comment Request Tracker
• Muller Mason Second Post
• Raymond Mason Second Post

Documents Received as part of a separate public records request, but that WHYS believes may be pertinent to this incident:

• SPD Officer Bill of Rights
• SPD Social Media Policy (highlighted by WHYS for emphasis)
• SPD Use of Force Policy

As of 06/17/2020, local news confirms that Sgt. Brent Mason has been given a 90-day suspension without pay.