HANCOCK COUNTY — Four months after the SWAT team was called in to save the life of McCordsville Police Chief Harold Rodgers, who was threatening to kill himself, a judge has ruled Rodgers is of sound mind and can have control of over 100 personal firearms.
The decision Thursday to return the weapons to Rodgers, 54, came over the objection of the Hancock County Prosecutor’s Office. The order, by Hancock County Court Commissioner Cody Coombs, rescinded an earlier one to remove the guns from his Greenfield home after the SWAT incident in January.
During a hearing attended by Rodgers and his family Thursday, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Marie Castetter told the court that four months is not enough time to determine whether Rodgers is no longer a danger to himself or the community. Rodgers’ attorney, James Crum of Carmel, told the court Rodgers has completed outpatient therapy and has been deemed fit by a mental health professional.
Rodgers’ family has a safety plan in place, including the installation of a new safe for gun storage, Rodgers told the court. Rodgers does not have the combination, and his wife has also taken part in crisis intervention training, he said during the hearing.
Rodgers’ collection of firearms, including everything from antique weapons to hand guns and assault rifles, was confiscated in January by officers from the Greenfield Police Department. Records show GPD obtained a search warrant Jan. 3 — the day after the SWAT incident — and confiscated 122 weapons.
In March, the court allowed family members to take possession of the guns pending the outcome of this week’s hearing.
Coombs said he was persuaded by an evaluation by a mental health expert who deemed Rodgers is no longer a danger to himself, Coombs said. Castetter, however, does not agree with the ruling and thinks more time is needed to make a more in-depth determination on Rodgers’ health.
“I’m concerned about what’s going to happen six months from now or a year from now,” Castetter said. “Mental health is cyclical.”
On the evening of Jan. 2, Rodgers threatened suicide while sitting in his vehicle in the Greenfield city parking lot at South and Pennsylvania streets. The SWAT team responded and intervened. Family members indicated Rodgers had been ill.
County prosecutors worked hard during the March hearing to keep the weapons away from Rodgers. They argued that he presented an imminent risk to personal injury, making him a threat to himself and possibly the community.
“It was a very difficult thing we had to do,” Prosecutor Brent Eaton said at the time. “We’ve had a lot of respect for the chief, but his safety and the safety of the community is also our priority.”
Rodgers, who was McCordsville’s first town marshal and who had worked for the department for almost 30 years, took leave in January under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Officials with the town of McCordsville have talked openly about replacing the longtime chief. The McCordsville Metropolitan Board of Police Commissioners voted unanimously in April to recommend the town council offer Rodgers a severance package of three months’ salary plus the cost of benefits in exchange for his resignation. If that can’t be worked out, it recommends the chief be dismissed.
The commissioners also voted unanimously to continue Rodgers’ unpaid administrative leave until further notice.
Mark Walker, president of the board, did not return messages seeking updated information on Rodgers’ status with the police department.
McCordsville Police Maj. Paul Casey has been serving as the department’s interim chief. At the meeting of the police commissioners last month, several members of the department endorsed Casey to be named chief. He has said he wants the job. Casey declined to comment.
