LOUISVILLE, Ky. — As Louisville Metro Police are working to make changes following a review of the department, several key players got together to discuss how it could be done.
State Senator Gerald Neal hosted a virtual discussion Monday night including Chief Erika Shields, River City FOP President Ryan Nichols, Metro Council President David James and University of Louisville criminal justice professor Cheri Dawson Edwards.
One of the main topics during the discussion was rising violent crime throughout the city.
They say reducing crime will take everyone working together but right now, there is a lack of trust between the community and officers.
“You need officers that are out engaging the community as they work. They need to be able to talk to folks in the neighborhoods, business owners, know what's going on in their beat and their neighborhood so to speak. So we need an adequate staff, we need an adequate manpower level to do those things,” Nichols said.
Chief Shields says part of increasing manpower is building morale by holding department leadership accountable and offering top-tier compensation.
“If you're the largest city in Kentucky and these officers are facing the most violence, and you don't want to lose talent, you have to retain talent. You have to attract it and you have to retain it. You have to compensate them appropriately,” Chief Shields said.
Both James and Dawson-Edwards also pushed for finding the root causes of the violence rather than just picking up the pieces afterward.
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