LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville Metro Police (LMPD) said they are now resuming their response to certain calls for service.
A department spokesperson has confirmed that officers will once again respond to all car crashes, thefts over $10,000 and burglaries.
The change reverses a previous order put in place in 2020 during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
An excerpt from the special order said the revision comes “due to the decrease in COVID-related cases and the desire to resume more of our normal duties.”
Metro Councilmember Mark Fox, a former LMPD officer, says officers have missed out on valuable face time with everyday Louisvillians.
"I think it's a great thing," Fox said. "I think it's overdue to be quite honest. That may be their one and only contact in their life with a police officer, and it's where those relationships get built that you can draw upon later. It's where the trust develops."
Fox said it's a big deal to not receive help; he said a neighbor's teenager was in a crash, and said LMPD didn't show up.
"It's something they, they've never experienced before, and they need someone there to protect them, protect them physically, and protect their interest and look out what's for what's best for them, until mom and dad can get there," Fox said.
The River City FOP Lodge said it's glad to see LMPD resume service calls:
“The FOP is encouraged to see that the department is slowly coming out of its modified responses to some calls for service. Our members, along with the rest of the community, had family and friends who have been inconvenienced by the limitations on call responses.
We all know that COVID and the responses to it wreaked havoc, and worse, on our everyday lives. There were over 220 COVID related line-of -duty police officer deaths across our country and we suffered the loss of several of our members.
We look forward to the time when the department can not only employ the 300 officers it will take to be back at its authorized strength of 1300 officers, which hasn’t changed in nearly 20 years, but hire an additional 200 officers to put departmental manpower at a reasonable strength. This will allow the department to respond to all calls for service from our community, to more effectively deploy officers to combat violent crime, and to provide for adequate and more frequent training for officers.”
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