Shreveport Police Union President Michael Carter is siding with Detective Rod Demery in his lawsuit against Police Chief Willie Shaw and other high-ranking officials.

The suit stems from Demery's investigation into prostitution allegations at Fire Station 8. Sgt. Carter told KEEL News why he thought the lawsuit was necessary.

"Last week, an informant walked in to the DA's office and gave crucial information that could actually implicate members of the Shreveport Police Department," Carter said. "I can't tell you what the witness said. All I can say is that he has implied that the ranking officials at the police department all named in the suit had knowledge of this incident prior to the FBI initiating its investigation. That is a problem."

Carter said this particular witness is considered credible, and investigators -- including Demery -- believe what he's saying. And he's basically pointing a finger at Chief Shaw.

"Isn't it a coincidence that whenever Rod returns back to his office that afternoon, he's called in by his assistant chief of police and told, 'You're now being transferred out of the detective office'? And he asked why, and he's not given a reason why," Carter said. That's when Demery went to Carter and asked what his options were, including doing nothing.

"That's not what we're hired to do. We're not hired to turn our heads or to do nothing when we think someone is doing wrong," Carter said. "It's a little bit harder, believe it or not, for police officers to fight their administration, because we wanna trust them. We want to trust that they always have our best interests at heart...that they want their employees to grow and do well in their careers. But it's not always that way in police work, especially at the Shreveport Police Department."

If Demery hadn't been forced out of investigations, would this lawsuit still have been filed? "I think just being taken off the case itself would have validated a whistleblower lawsuit," said Carter.

Listen what else Carter had to say in his interview with Robert J. Wright and Erin McCarty:

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