LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Tuesday night, Louisville Metro Police hosted its outreach event "Meet the Beat Officer" in the city's 5th Division. It's an initiative to help bridge the divide between police officers and the community.
The new Louisville Metro Gun Violence Dashboard shows that the 5th Division --which includes the Highlands, Crescent Hill, and Clifton neighborhoods -- has the highest number of homicides ever recorded in the division. There have been 10 homicides so far this year.
"A good amount of them were domestic-related, interpersonal fights, people who were intoxicated…and I say this a lot, the bars are a great revenue source, a great place for entertainment, but they do bring their own problems," said 5th Division Commander Major Jason Grissom.
He said the Highlands neighborhood is a unique setting when it comes to crime.
"We have an alcohol-fueled entertainment industry, in the middle of a residential neighborhood," Grissom said.
Grissom said almost all of the homicides have been solved.
District 9 Councilman Andrew Owen called the spike in homicides concerning. He said the new crime dashboard can help to rebuild trust between LMPD and the community.
"We're trying to be as transparent as we can in Metro Government and LMPD – sharing information is another way of communicating between those two groups," Owen said. "I think it can't do anything but help."
A couple living in the Highlands attended Tuesday night's event to show their support for the division's officers and to stay informed.
"We want to seek the welfare of the city," community member Dustin Brown said. "We live here, we're invested here, this is our home, so we want to see it flourish and do well and we know that good relationships with our police officers goes a long way to that."
Both Grissom and Owen highlighted the importance of communication within the 5th Division, saying more communication between neighbors leads to less crime.
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