LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville Metro Police Department is losing another wave of officers to retirements with 30 having left the department on August 1.
"Recruiting is a problem, retention is a problem,” Ryan Nichols, president of the River City FOP Lodge #614, said.
Nichols said there have been 45 retirements this year and between 35 to 40 resignations.He points to low pay, lack of support from the administration, and low morale.
“Morale is very low. They’re stressed, we’re understaffed,” he said. “When we compound those day-to-day issues with a pandemic, months of civil unrest, it exponentially makes those problems worse so we don’t have the manpower to handle everything that’s going on."
“Horrible. It is horrible,” Metro Council President David James, said.
James said the police department as a whole isn't a good state right now and the loss of officers isn't surprising.
“The morale in the police department is worse than I’ve ever seen it,” he said.
James points to poor leadership and a lack of resources, saying the department needs to see changes.
This is why James pushed for a resolution, approved by the metro council Thursday, urging LMPD for more transparency during internal investigations.
“There has to be transparency in the complaints that are lodged against the police department and people need to be able to hear and see-through body camera footage, what did or didn't happen,” James said.
The resolution also urges the department to complete the investigations more quickly.
“We want them to be closed much more rapidly. The department has cases that have been open, in our opinion, far too long,” Nichols said.
Even with three upcoming recruit classes for LMPD, Nichols said they're not filling and the department will still be down officers.
“Folks are going to continue to leave and go elsewhere,” Nichols said.
Lack of manpower is an extreme frustration Nichols said leading to local crime going up.
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