LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville Metro Police celebrated their most recent graduating class of officers Friday.
At the ceremony, outgoing Police Chief Erika Shields said she was proud of the 26 recruits and the strides the department is making to diversify itself.
“We have so many different nationalities, countries, we have diversity in gender; I think that we're really, it's going to take time to close the gap but we're definitely getting a lot of different minds and I think that's what good policing takes,” she said.
The 26 recruits bring the department closer to being fully staffed, however, LMPD is still nearly 300 officers short.
Currently, LMPD is authorized to have just over 1300 people on staff.
After this graduation, they are now over 1000.
Mayor-Elect Craig Greenberg addressed the shortage Friday when he introduced the new interim police chief.
He said addressing this shortage is a priority in his administration.
“As we complete and have a full team, that will give us even more resources to continue to investigate and solve all of the violent crimes that are happening in the city. So that's part of our plan as well. And we talked about really just renewing and strengthening the commitment that LMPD has already shown to try to work towards this goal,” Greenberg said.
The department has already been recruiting throughout the country to gain more officers.
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.