LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville's newly named, full-time police chief tells WHAS11 News the community can expect to see 'increased visibility' of LMPD officers in the months to come, under her leadership.
A week removed since Mayor Craig Greenberg announced Jackie Gwinn-Villaroel would be dropping the interim tag in favor of the permanent police chief position, she sat down with the station to discuss her plan to curb the city's persistent violent crime and improve relations with the community.
"It's [about] being more intentional about how we engage the community," she told WHAS11 News in a one-on-one interview Wednesday.
Gwinn-Villaroel discussed the learning curve over the last six months and what may look different within LMPD moving forward.
Evidencing the problems the city faces, WHAS11 News showed the chief June surveillance footage captured by Vendome Copper & Brass Works, a local business in the Butchertown neighborhood. The video shared with the station showed a group of young people firing guns at will down the street.
"We're trying our best to identify those individuals," said Gwinn-Villaroel, who says she's seen the video before. "The division commander put together a plan in order to address that particular area -- wherever the need is."
There's been a renewed call from many in the city for more officers to patrol the streets, especially at night, given the staggering crime continuing to burden just about every district.
Watch the full interview here:
Gwinn-Villaroel continued with a pledge, "You're going to see increased visibility from our folks. We're doing walking patrols, we got our horses out there more, we got ATVs -- we can do more, and we will do more."
We also keyed in on Gwinn-Villaroel's specific initiatives to remedy issues of trust within the community.
"We may have a 'Meet your Beat Officer Day,' where the community can actually come in and meet the beat officer who is serving your community on a regular basis. Now we got a face, a name. We're having a conversation. Now when I see you in the grocery store, I'm able to wave more freely. When I'm driving down the street, I'm able to stop my car and say, 'How are you doing?' Because now I've had some interaction with you. We have to do that."
We also discussed the Department of Justice report. Gwinn-Villaroel confirmed she will have a seat at the table in the negotiation process for the consent decree, the federally court-monitored agreement the city and LMPD will have to work under for the foreseeable future.
She will play a role to determine and agree upon the final terms of federal oversight. She says they've been in communication with other police agencies across the country that have been under a consent decree, seeking out advice and perspective.
"The DOJ is going to have their proposal, [and] we're going to be able to have ours, and look at how we can meet in the middle and make an agreement that is going to benefit [LMPD] and the community," Gwinn-Villaroel said.
Police agencies across the country, including in New Orleans, have warned other police departments like LMPD to narrow the scope of reforms in the contract to ensure they're attainable and don't demoralize staff.
WHAS11 News asked: "Are you willing to push back to make sure it's not too much for your department to handle?"
Gwinn-Villaroel responded, "We're willing to push back on those things that are not going to help us be successful. We want to make sure we're negotiating the things we can measure and we can actually complete. That is the goal."
LMPD says it currently has a class of 31 cadets going through police academy since June, a bigger number seen compared to recent years. In March, LMPD's new class had 23 cadets.
This most recent class of new officers are set to graduate in December, which LMPD hopes will continue to help fill staffing gaps.
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