James Keen, a former Jefferson Parish sheriff’s deputy who once ran the New Orleans Police Department’s Major Case Homicide unit, is now on the other side of the booking desk. Investigators say Keen pocketed $160 from a Metairie home during a welfare check on Saturday, leading to his arrest on a charge of malfeasance in office and his firing from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office that same day.
According to NOLA, Jefferson Parish investigators opened a probe into the welfare check and arrested Keen on Saturday, booking him with malfeasance in office. Sheriff Joseph Lopinto called the alleged conduct “shameful” and added, “I will not tolerate such actions,” the outlet reported. NOLA also notes that Keen joined the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office in July 2020 after serving with NOPD from 1978 to 2006.
Small-Dollar Allegations Keep Surfacing
Allegations involving relatively small sums of cash are not unheard of in the region’s law enforcement ranks. In 2020, a Jefferson Parish deputy was fired and arrested after investigators said he removed money from a lost wallet that had already been logged into evidence, according to FOX 8. Incidents like that have fueled calls for tighter oversight of evidence rooms and clearer safeguards around welfare checks.
Booking, Bond and the Road Ahead
Officials say Keen was booked into the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna and released the next day after posting a $5,000 bond, per NOLA. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office’s Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office site lists the Gretna facility and provides online inmate search tools that track booking information. Prosecutors have not publicly announced any additional charges or a court date…