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An Oakdale police officer is facing felony charges after Louisiana State Police say he coordinated with another person to plant narcotics at a residence — and an unsuspecting person took the arrest for it.
Jalen Melbert, 33, was arrested Monday, August 31 at approximately 1:30 p.m. on a warrant obtained through the 33rd Judicial District Court, according to a Louisiana State Police news release. He was booked into the Allen Parish Jail and charged with abuse of office and malfeasance in office.
How The Case Opened
State Police’s Criminal Investigations Division opened the probe on August 19 after a criminal complaint regarding the Oakdale Police Department, per the LSP release. In just under two weeks, detectives say they developed enough to put a warrant on a serving Oakdale officer.
What Investigators Say Happened
The LSP release describes two separate allegations.
First: detectives learned that during a separate incident, Melbert “coordinated with another individual to plant illegal narcotics at a residence, which led to the arrest of an unsuspecting individual.” Someone with no connection to the drugs went to jail because a police officer allegedly put them there.
Second: detectives learned Melbert “attempted to use his position as a law enforcement officer to influence a victim to engage in sexual activity.” KPLC’s reporting on the arrest was blunter, saying the officer was accused of planting drugs and demanding sex.
Investigators also allege he attempted to manipulate evidence connected to the case.
The Department’s Response
Oakdale Police Chief Kevin Johnson issued a statement saying the department is fully cooperating with Louisiana State Police to ensure a thorough and impartial investigation.
“We take all allegations of misconduct seriously, and the alleged actions do not reflect the standards we expect of our officers,” Johnson said. “Maintaining the integrity of our department and the trust of the community we serve remains a top priority.”
What Happens Next
State Police say the investigation remains active and ongoing — and additional charges may be forthcoming. The second individual allegedly involved in the drug-planting has not been publicly named or charged.
Melbert remained a serving Oakdale police officer at the time of his arrest. The case will proceed through the Allen Parish court system.
If you value coverage that keeps working cases like this one after the headlines move on, read more at ohdangreally.com.
The mechanics of planting
A planted-narcotics case is rare precisely because it usually leaves no witnesses — the officer controls the stop, the search, the scene and the report. What makes this one different, per State Police, is that the coordination leaked: the investigation, opened August 19 after a complaint about the Oakdale department, developed the alleged arrangement between Melbert and another person fast enough that within two weeks a district judge signed a warrant for a serving officer’s arrest. Abuse-of-office and malfeasance are the charges Louisiana reaches for when the allegation is that the badge itself was the instrument — not negligence, not a bad search, but an officer directing official power at a private purpose.
And the person who took the arrest is the count that will echo hardest if proven. An unsuspecting resident carrying a charge they did not earn is the exact inversion of the job description: the system’s whole claim to legitimacy is that it errors toward the innocent, and a planting case is an officer betting his career that the system’s paperwork is too heavy for anyone to lift and check.
Pattern or outlier — the open question
The complaint that opened the case targeted the department, not the man — wording worth sitting with. One officer arrested is one story; a complaint written against the Oakdale police force leaves the question of whether investigators believe the practice was contained or cultural, and whether more charges are being built. Small departments run on thin staffs and thinner oversight; the same state that produced this arrest has spent the year producing others: a Georgia deputy charged in a Flock camera purge, an ex-deputy whose 2,055 plate searches of one person turned a camera network personal. The mechanism changes; the behavior — official tools aimed at private targets — does not.
Charges are allegations at this stage and can be amended as the case develops. This story will be updated.
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