LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For the last six months, the Louisville Office of the Inspector General has been working on an initiative: Community Policing Councils.
Inspector General Edward Harness would be the first to tell you, it's not an original idea, but one he took from his tenure working under the Albuquerque Police Department -- in the midst of its own consent decree.
"It's a direct outlet for the community to have access to the police department," Harness said.
In theory, each of the eight Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) Divisions will be home to its own Community Policing Council: a board of civilian members acting as a sort of policy-review body, dictating how LMPD polices various neighborhoods.
Before that point, the Office of the Inspector General plans to host several months-worth of meetings, seeking perspective on what the community wants to see.
Harness called this a community-based movement.
"Of course [the input] is going to have to be statutory and meet the laws and ordinances," Harness said. "Certain things will be out of bounds that will be suggested but there will be many things that will be in bounds."
Harness admitted the term community policing has caught on as a sort of buzzword over the years -- such past attempts have failed in Louisville.
"Yes, the community has heard of community policing but they have never seen it," Bishop Dennis Lyons said.
Lyons understands the skepticism but backs the Inspector General's efforts.
"It is possible. But it has to be true, it has to be real, it has to be authentic," he said. "Then we will see immediate change in the Louisville Metro Police Department."
Jackie Floyd, a prominent name in Louisville's Russell neighborhood, was a little more skeptical.
"I don't believe the police department is receptive to what we want and what we need," she said.
Floyd said she has more doubts than hope for the effort.
"How will they be engaging the community? And I'm not talking about old folks like me. I'm talking about young Black males affected by this violence," she said.
Harness said convincing won't come by way of words, but by action.
"The goal is to have the community control and maintain the meetings themselves," Harness said.
The meetings will take place between June and September:
- June 13 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.: Molly Leonard Community Center (LMPD First Division)
- June 22 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.: Berrytown Recreation Center (LMPD Eighth Division)
- July 13 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.: Southwick Community Center (LMPD Second Division)
- July 18 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.: Wilderness Road Senior Center (LMPD Seventh Division)
- August 8 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.: Sun Valley Community Center (LMPD Third Division)
- August 17 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.: Newburg Community Center (LMPD Sixth Division)
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