A Madison police officer placed on administrative leave after being accused of injuring Indian grandfather Sureshbhai Patel in a takedown maneuver has been reinstated, an official announced Tuesday.

In a statement posted to the department’s Facebook page, interim police chief Maj. Jim Cooke said officer Eric Parker had returned to work. Parker will be assigned to the department’s training unit until he completes required re-certifications. Once his training is complete, he will receive his duty assignment.

“Since Officer Parker’s acquittal of all federal charges and the dismissal by the Attorney General of the misdemeanor charges against him, I have extensively reviewed all of the documentation regarding the case, and I have made the factual determination that Officer Parker’s actions in February 2015 did not amount to a policy violation,” Cooke said. “This decision was based on the review of all departmental and court documentation.”

Cooke said he realized there would be those who question his decision, but explained he could not share the internal documentation that led to the decision. He instead advised the public to read the memorandum opinion issued following Parker’s second federal civil rights trial, which — like the first — ended with a hung jury. The judge in those trials, Madeline H. Haikala, wrote the following:

“[T]he evidence demonstrates that Officer Parker complied with MPD policy regarding preliminary investigations of suspicious individuals and MPD’s ‘Response to Resistance’ policy…Officer Parker made a split-second decision in a rapidly evolving situation rather than a premeditated decision to use violent force.”

Cooke said Haikala’s opinion is an in-depth treatment of the law and its application to Parker’s actions. “I believe it will offer clarity to those who currently do not understand the decision I have made,” Cooke said.

The News Courier has reached out to Madison mayor-elect Paul Finley, Parker attorney Robert Tuten and Florence attorney Hank Sherrod III, who is representing Patel in a civil suit against the city, regarding this story.