LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The office tasked with overseeing Louisville Metro Police (LMPD) says it's close to receiving the information needed to move their investigations forward.
Since the summer, Louisville's Inspector General, Edward Harness, has been looking into a handful of complaints of police misconduct to see if they hold any merit. The very public July shooting at the Dirt Bowl in Shawnee Park is just one case Harness is looking into.
It all comes after some road bumps between Harness' office and LMPD.
Back in October, Harness accused LMPD of being uncooperative in sending over information and records pertaining to his investigations, including body camera footage.
The police department argued some of what was being requested was federally protected and only to be made available to other law enforcement.
Police told WHAS11 they had reached out to the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services Division to determine the best next steps.
Now, Harness says they've reached an agreement, opening the door for his requests to be granted and eventually complete these probes within six months.
"We will present the facts as we see them and make a recommendation based upon those facts," he said. "There could be a recommendation finding misconduct and there could be a discipline recommendation as well."
Despite this, even if the inspector general determines there was police misconduct in some way shape or form, Harness says it would be up to Police Chief Erika Shields whether or not to implement any recommendations.
The agreement is currently in the hands of Kentucky State Police who will give the final sign off allowing for information to be released.
Harness says they're investigating complaints dating from as recently as a month ago, to as early as 2019. He tells us he believes they've positioned themselves well to be "ready to comply with any findings from the Department of Justice."
The DOJ report looking into LMPD's patterns and practices is expected to come down any week now.
Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.