LOUISVILLE, Ky. — After a scathing two weeks, the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) met with the community face-to-face Wednesday at the 2nd Division Meet the Beat Officer event.
LMPD reported lower crime numbers to a neighborhood group, allowing them to talk about something other than the swath of sexual harassment lawsuits that have been filed against metro officers.
The chapel of Corner of Hope Church in Park Hill was filled with hymns and applause for the officers, and new interim LMPD chief Paul Humphrey was shaking hands.
"The last week or so has been a whirlwind," Humphrey said.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg announced the new leadership Tuesday, after Jackie Gwinn-Villaroel handed in her resignation.
“I’m feeling positive for the department," Humphrey said. "I think every time you have change, whether you’re apart of that direct change or not, change is always an opportunity to make improvements. We want to build a culture here where improvement is the constant, that we’re not afraid to say ‘we can be better tomorrow."
The 150 filled seats at the church seemed to echo the new interim chief's sentiment, as the room erupted in applause as Maj. Russell Miller announced decreases in car thefts, non-fatal shootings, and homicides compared to last year.
“The things that are going on, are going on; the officers are doing everything they can to continue to engage with the public and continue to show that they’re doing the right thing," Miller said. “We have to move on from bad practices, bad things that come up, and we need to address those internally, which is what we’re doing.”
The 2nd Division is seeing a decrease in crime and changes to the command staff, all while waiting for the Department of Justice consent decree.
"If you consider where we were a couple of years ago, we're still not at a level where we want to be," Humphrey said. "But these officers are out here putting their heart and soul into this every single day. They're just a microcosm of what officers all around the department are doing."
Mayor Greenberg said at this time, there is no search for a chief.
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