LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — In hopes of getting ahead of the findings from the Department of Justice Investigation, Louisville’s mayor and police chief are outlining the fixes underway.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and LMPD Chief Erika Shields held a virtual community forum on Saturday afternoon, where they detailed 150 public safety reforms, and what LMPD and the city have done in wake of the Breonna Taylor raid in 2020.
The department is currently part of a sweeping federal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into its policing and practices.
“We are working on so many fronts to ensure that we are ahead of what ever report that comes out and there’s a lot of work that’s been done,” Shields said.
Shields said there has been a culture shift on taking on violent crime — she said her focus is on using intelligence to target violent offenders instead of a “stop and frisk” approach.
The use of body cameras was also a big topic during the forum. All Louisville Metro Police officers are required to wear them — no exceptions.
“That was one of the reasons there was such lack of clarity the shooting at Breonna Taylor’s apartment because they were undercover officers executing that warrant and they did not have to wear body worn cameras,” Fischer said.
LMPD has invested in technology where body cameras are activated to start recording immediately when a gun or taser leaves an officer’s holster.
Other changes include new rules for using tear gas, a ban on no-knock warrants and a revised search warrant policy where signoffs are required from multiple supervisors.
Shields also got candid about challenges the department faces on Saturday.
“What I can say is the Achilles’ heel right now for law enforcement, not just LMPD, is people don’t want to police. The profession obviously took a huge hit in 2020,” she said. “Really the profession as aw whole has to rebrand itself and become desirable.”
To respond to the staffing shortages, the department is now offering salary increases and hiring bonuses.
“We’ve got to be attractive and competitive,” Fischer said. “A two-year police officer can now be making around $80,000 a year.”
The mayor said the city has been “extremely cooperative” with DOJ investigators, but still doesn’t know when the investigation will be completed.
“When the Department of Justice releases their investigation report, just know that we have been hard at work on much of what’s in their report,” Fischer said. “I’m sure what’s not in their report we’ll get to work on.”
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