LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Metro Police are searching for solutions as the city is on track to have the most violent year in Louisville’s history.
Looking towards solutions, three things have gained a lot of attention as Metro Council passed its most recent budget this week – overtime, pulling additional staff from other departments, and the new contract.
Overtime
Metro Council approved the budget Thursday which included $9 million in overtime for the department.
Afterward, Council President David James offered an amendment to provide an additional $4 million in overtime funds that led to a lengthy discussion. In the end, the council did not approve the funds.
Pulling from other departments
A part of that discussion focused on bringing officers in from other local departments like Shively.
Chief Shields even pointed to that solution, but President James said it will not work.
“If you have an incident where one of those officers have to protect themselves and shoot somebody, and they may not for example have a body camera on because they are not required by their policies and procedures. That could create a whole different situation that we all don't want to have. So it's a situation we really have to think. The bottom line is that we really need more officers on our police department and that can't happen until we get that contract settled,” he said.
The Contract
The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and the Mayor's Offices are still in negotiations for a new contract, as the existing one is set to expire on Wednesday. As long as talks are in good faith, the existing contract will extend until a new agreement is reached.
Council President James said, "The pay for police officers dwindled over the year and so now we have people leaving the police department to go everywhere else but here." The $190 million Public Safety budget offers additional funds for LMPD salaries and negotiations.
FOP President Ryan Nichols hopes that will incentivize lost officers to return to LMPD. "They left for better wages and benefits at other places so if we can offer that here perhaps we can get some of those already trained officers back and then have our opportunity to hire the best of the recruits that we want to bring in."
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