LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Following the U.S. Department of Justice's report into Louisville Metro Police and Metro Government earlier this year, Mayor Craig Greenberg says he's adhering to the agency's guidance in adding several new positions to LMPD.
More than $200 million is allocated for the police department in the mayor's new billion-dollar budget proposal. It includes $2.3 million for 33 new positions within LMPD.
Those positions include several new training jobs at the police academy, civilian investigators to assist sworn officers within the Homicide Unit, and specialists specifically assigned to review search warrants.
The search warrant process has been a major point of contention since Breonna Taylor's death. Officers used a search warrant with falsified information to conduct the botched raid that led to Taylor's death in 2020.
"Many of the problems of the past identified in the DOJ report could have been prevented with an enhanced approach to training," Greenberg said. "That's an approach the chief and I are committed to implementing now."
UofL constitutional law professor Sam Marcosson believes internal inspections of each application is a good idea in concept, but says the plan will inevitably come with plenty of questions and could present some risk.
"Once you have people who are part of the department, the risk is they become captured by the culture of the department," Marcosson said. "They see it as their job not to provide real, meaningful review and oversight, but [rather] to not get in the way of their fellow officers."
The DOJ's findings also explicitly call for the use of "confidential informants" to establish probable cause for searches. They also recommend an internal review of the applications, along with presenting them to prosecutors before going to judges.
Greenberg's budget plan still has a long way to go before final approval by Metro Council.
There are multiple hearings scheduled throughout May and opportunities for community feedback.
Councilmembers' final vote on the budget is set for June 22.
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