LOUISVILLE, Ky. — After two consecutive years of record-breaking homicides, the grim trend in Louisville does not appear to be slowing down.
Just 21 days into the new year, there have already been 31 reports of people shot, 14 of which were fatal.
That's according to reports from the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) and Christopher 2X, an anti-violence activist who tracks Louisville's crime statistics.
Stricter gun laws, criminal justice reform could be debated during the 2022 legislative session
Members of the Kentucky General Assembly from Louisville said the legislature will play a role in addressing the ongoing violent crime problems plaguing the Metro, but members on both sides of the aisle said the issue mainly needs to be handled at the local level.
"I can't overemphasize the public safety issue," Sen. Julie Raque Adams, R-Louisville, said. "It is really important that Frankfort listen to that and we put those dollars in. They can help make a difference. And it's really important that locals keep their eye on the ball and really focus on strengthening our neighborhoods and making them safe again."
Gun reform could get bipartisan support
Mayor Greg Fischer said public safety is his top legislative priority this year.
Fischer said he is supporting three proposed changes to Kentucky's gun laws:
- Require owners to report if gun is lost or stolen
- Require owners to safely store guns and make them liable for damages caused by firearms that are improperly stored
- Allow guns seized by law enforcement to be destroyed and/or removed from public circulation
"These are commonsense gun laws that most everyone, including firearm owners, agrees with,” Fischer said. “These measures respect the rights of responsible gun owners while also protecting the public from those who are not being responsible.”
Under current law, every gun confiscated by law enforcement in Kentucky must be sold at public auction to federally licensed firearms dealers.
Raque Adams said this issue will likely be up for debate this session.
"You're not really eliminating that firearm out of the system," Raque Adams said. "When you resell — I know that they sometimes rely on that money to help fund their department operations — but I think maybe that's one of the policies that has seen its last day."
Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Louisville, said he would be okay with changing that law, but overall, said other than that, new gun laws aren't the solution.
"When we have been taking guns from a criminal, should we put it back on the street? That's an argument that we shouldn't do that," Nemes said. "That's fine okay, great. But I think arguing for more and more and even more gun laws — that's not the answer. These are already crimes being committed with these guns. Enforced the laws on the books. Go after these gangs. We're not doing that right now."
Sen. Morgan McGarvey, D-Louisville, said there are other reforms he feels would lead to common-sense legislation.
McGarvey said he plans to introduce the Crisis Aversion Rights Retention bill with Republican Sen. Paul Hornback.
"Several states nationally have laws like this," McGarvey said. "It really helps prevent suicide and, of course, other dangerous situations."
The legislation is also known as a red flag law. In certain cases, it would allow a judge to issue a temporary order allowing law enforcement to remove a firearm from a person's possession.
"If you see that someone is in immediate danger to themselves, or to others, you can call the police," McGarvey said. "The police can come in and if they determine there's probable cause, they can get a judge to sign off on an order to temporarily remove someone's firearm. Then you go in for a hearing in front of the judge and the person retains their rights to get their firearm back."
Nemes said he doesn't think a law like this would help the situation in Louisville.
"Very few of these crimes are being committed by people who would otherwise have a red flag against them," Nemes said. "Red flag is a very targeted approach. That's not what's leading the gun crime here in Louisville, Kentucky. What's leading the gun crime here is gang crime. We need to go after the problem. Red flag laws aren't going to solve the problem."
Investments in community programs, addiction services
Underfunded and defunded community programs will likely see a bump in state funding in the budget being debated in Frankfort.
Louisville lawmakers said those investments will hopefully lead to an indirect reduction in crime.
"The things we can do in Frankfort aren't just directly related to violence," McGarvey said. "We should also be looking at the community programs that have been defunded, after-school programs for kids, wraparound services at school. We should be looking at career and technical training starting at an even younger age than high school."
Lawmakers feel investments in substance use disorder treatment centers could also help.
The mayor's Deputy Communication Director Jessica Wethington said they are prioritizing social service programs like a pilot project that will deflect some 911 calls to a non-police response, or funding for suicide prevention and substance abuse.
"I think what you're going to see in this budget is a real emphasis on funding those programs that really place their primary mission on getting help with the addiction, the recovery and also those wraparound services for employment," Raque Adams said. "The statistics are startling that, unless you have that skills training component to it, you more than likely fall back into a life of addiction."
Nemes said while he agrees lawmakers in Frankfort need to focus on addressing long-term issues, such as supporting families, it won't be a quick fix to the crime rate, which has been steadily climbing for years.
"Those are more long-term solutions that we need to get to, but the more short-term solution is to put out the fire," Nemes said. "We have a fire right now. Every year we're setting a new record in the number of shootings and murders in Jefferson County. To put out the fire, that's going to take law enforcement, that's going to take seriously looking at the issue from our local leaders, and they have not proven capable to do that."
Criminal, juvenile justice reform possible
Criminal justice reform has been historically bipartisan in Louisville, according to lawmakers.
"I think you find people from both sides of the aisle who are really willing to sit down and listen to the experts — find out what's working and find a way to keep our community safe," McGarvey said.
McGarvey said he expects a couple of criminal-justice-related bills to pass this year.
"We've noticed that treatment for addiction is really helping keep our community safer, as well as keeping our citizens more productive," McGarvey said. "With juvenile justice, we have to recognize that a lot of the offenders are just kids. What is something we can put in place there that keeps kids from being repeat offenders? That treats them fairly within the system, but also keeps our community safe? I think that you'll see another bipartisan push on that."
Nemes said juvenile justice reform is something that could also be looked at this session, but it's still too early to say for sure.
The legislature is also considering allowing more flexibility when it comes to approving law enforcement agencies to use wiretaps.
Nemes said he's beginning to research that now after Louisville Metro Council President David James told him certain wiretapping techniques that are used in federal investigations can't be used locally.
"If there needs to be a change in Kentucky law to allow local law enforcement to tap into these kinds of communications devices from gang members or other criminals, then I think we should make that easier," Nemes said. "I don't know if those laws need to be changed. That's one of the things we're starting to look at."
'A local issue': Lawmakers say there is only so much that can be done at the state level to reduce Louisville crime
While lawmakers feel some solutions to Louisville's steadily increasing violent crime rates could come out of Frankfort, the majority need to come locally.
"This is largely a local issue, but from the state, what we need is the dollars and the resources for funding all sorts of programs," McGarvey said.
Republican lawmakers said they feel the mayor and city leaders aren't doing enough.
"We have a serious problem, obviously, in Louisville," Nemes said. "It needs to be taken more seriously by the mayor's office."
Raque Adams, who is the Republican caucus chair in the state Senate, said the legislature doesn't typically focus on hyperlocal issues and is surprised the mayor hasn't worked to keep lawmakers more informed.
"I thought for sure that we would have heard more from Mayor Fischer as to what we need in Louisville to help with this growing crime problem," Raque Adams said.
Raque Adams said she is meeting with Fischer next week to discuss his priorities but feels the meeting should have been set earlier.
"We have received a list of legislative priorities, but to my knowledge, we have not had any follow-up conversations on that," Raque Adams said. "I'm planning on meeting with the mayor's office next week when I'm back in town. Hopefully, I'll get a better idea of what he needs us to do in Frankfort to help solve this problem."
Wethington said the mayor’s office staff and policy team has been involved the legislative process this year, but didn’t directly say if the mayor himself has met with lawmakers about the budget this year.
"With 46 session days and 83 calendar days between now and sine die adjournment, Mayor Fischer plans to, and will, take the time to talk with any member of the General Assembly to advance priority issues for Louisville – including ways to enhance public safety by promoting gun violence prevention and enforcement, strengthening Group Violence Intervention, and addressing the need for juvenile intervention facilities and resources," said Wethington.
Metro Council President David James, who often criticizes the Fischer administration, said Louisville's crime problem didn't happen overnight and it won't be fixed overnight either.
"This administration denied and ignored the gang problem for from since the beginning and you can not fix something that you don't acknowledge exists," James said. "I would hear things like, 'Well, we're not like Chicago. We're not like Chicago.' Well, guess what? Now we are."
James said it'll take all levels of government and community involvement to reduce crime in the city.
"We all have to work together to get to where we need to be to make our community safer," James said.
James said he'd like to see lawmakers invest in pre-k programs, addiction treatment centers, job skills training programs, affordable housing.
He also said he supports stricter gun laws, increasing pay for social workers and would like to see retention pay implemented for police officers across the state, including at the local level.
WHAS 11 reached out to the mayor's office for comment but hadn't gotten a response at the time this article was published.