LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville leaders who met privately with the Department of Justice (DOJ) explained on Friday how the federal consent decree will work in the community.
"We are here to educate and help us set the tone on where do we go from here," Louisville Urban League CEO Lyndon Pryor said at the 'Bishop's Table' meeting. "There was great concern from the DOJ as to whether or not we were going to get a deal done prior to the transition to the new administration."
Part of the deal is hiring an independent monitor with a multi-million dollar price tag that Louisville taxpayers will cover.
The focus of the weekly roundtable was explaining the independent monitor's future job.
"They are the judge's eyes and ears in Louisville, making sure that LMPD and the city are doing what the consent decree says that they should," Pryor said. "They are the ones who are holding them accountable."
According to Mayor Craig Greenberg, the city will pay a maximum of $3 million over the next two years to cover the cost of that independent monitor, who will measure Louisville Metro Police's (LMPD) progress on federally mandated reforms.
"This agreement caps the amount our city will spend on an out-of-state monitor," he said.
But actually putting the reforms in place will likely cost more.
Republican Metro Councilmember Kevin Kramer is concerned about that extra cost.
"My concern is that, that calculation is probably lower than what the actual expense is going to be," he said. "Historically when you look at consent decrees across the country, folks have had one level of expectation and had a different reality."
The city has $375,000 budgeted so far for consent decree monitoring.
Democratic Metro Councilmember Shameka Parrish-Wright believes the money needs to come out of the LMPD's budget to avoid hurting other investments into the community.
"What I don't like to hear is we can't afford this when we're paying millions and millions in lawsuits," she said.
In recent years, more than $40 million in taxpayer dollars have gone to settle claims of police misconduct.
Former federal prosecutor Kent Wicker of Louisville predicted the police reform agreement will pay for itself.
"I think it's a bargain to do the job the right way the first time," Wicker said. "This will be money well spent."
Donald Trump appointed the federal judge overseeing the consent decree, Benjamin Beaton, in 2020. The now president-elect has promised to shake up the DOJ.
However, Sam Marcosson, a law professor at the University of Louisville, said he "wouldn't expect the Department of Justice in this instance to put much pressure, if any, on the city when it comes to implementation."
The police department is short 295 officers, a deficit that hasn't budged much over recent years.
"Until we get through all this and get back to some sense of normalcy, and federal government oversight is not normal, than I don't see it really getting that much better," Brian Butler, a former federal prosecutor and attorney who has represented LMPD, said.
He's also worried those vacancies won't be filled until all this is over.
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