LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Every year, Louisville Metro Council is tasked with approving the city mayor's budget proposal for the next fiscal year.
This year's process has been underway for weeks, leading to Thursday's budget hearing -- featuring one of the high-ticket items Mayor Craig Greenberg addressed.
Metro Council's budget hearing was over Louisville Metro Police's potential $222 million budget for the fiscal year. It's the largest portion of Greenberg's $1.1 billion proposal and a 4 percent increase over this LMPD's current operating budget.
Recruitment
With 292 vacancies, LMPD Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said the department has been "recruiting aggressively."
She said the department's current marketing strategies have been: billboards, social media campaigns, marketing in other cities, and TARC ride-arounds.
LMPD plans to use $1 million of its proposed budget on recruiting, and they want to use $200,000 of that to pay an outside firm with marketing expertise to execute its hiring strategy.
"We need someone who actually has that skillset in targeting groups all over our city," Gwinn-Villaroel said.
Equipment
LMPD officials said some of their equipment is outdated and needs to be replaced. Around $1.5 million is earmarked in the proposed budget for that.
Metro Council also asked about the condition of LMPD's two helicopters.
"They are on their last legs," Gwinn-Villaroel said.
She said it would take $7 million to replace just one helicopter, marking it down as a possible priority in the 2025 budget.
Some of the benefits they listed were in helping find missing children, assisting in violent situations, and helping other agencies. They added the "need is so there so we could never go without."
Community engagement and involvement
The LMPD budget for community engagement and rebuilding trust is expected to increase from $25,000 to $50,000.
Gwinn-Villaroel told the committee LMPD is currently having frequent "robust" conversation with the community, in an effort to improve its relationship residents.
She mentioned that money would be used so LMPD can relaunch "Conversations with Cops.”
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