LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Juleana Frierson had several points she wanted to discuss at the Louisville Metro Police (LMPD) townhall in the California neighborhood, so she scribbled it all down.
But, she wasn't happy with how the meeting went, and was hoping to see more people engage in the conversation including rank and file officers.
"If you don't have the participation – the real participation – from the community and the police on the ground, this is just not going to work," Frierson said.
There to face it all was LMPD's new Chief Paul Humphrey, also addressing a lengthy University of Louisville study that looked back at centuries worth of racial discrimination and abuse at the hands of local police.
"I need to be able to explain to officers what's going on with their department and the decisions that are being made just as much as I need to explain that to the community, so they're comfortable with doing those types of things," Humphrey said.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) consent decree and it's oversight of 35 required changes was also discussed in the townhall.
Leaders on the panel say they've already implemented many of the recommendations from the DOJ consent decree.
Humphrey said there's always work left to be done.
"There's no point where we're going to say that we won the Super Bowl and we're going to retire," Humphrey said.
He said he hasn't lost focus on violent crime.
"Ultimately, if we want to talk about community safety, the number one priority is keeping people alive," Humphrey said. "When you have 150+ people being shot and killed, and another 300+ people being shot, those are families that are torn apart."
Moving forward, Frierson said change will only happen from the ground up.
"With those people [on the panel], even with good intentions, they can't change it," Frierson said. "Those 1,200 police – it's got to come up from them and from us."
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