Report: Morale low with Louisville police; minorities don’t trust law enforcement

(The Center Square) – A consulting firm hired by Louisville Metro Government to conduct a “top-to-bottom” review of the its police force has made more than 100 recommendations to improve law enforcement in Kentucky’s largest city.

The recommendations were part of a 155-page report the city received from Hillard Heintze, which was hired in July to audit the Louisville Metro Police Department in the wake of the Breonna Taylor killing and the unrest that came from it.

The city made the report public Thursday.

In a press conference, Mayor Greg Fischer said the report “validates the uncomfortable truth” that many minority distrust law enforcement. At the same time, it also shows that morale among rank-and-file officers is low and, if possible, they would leave the force.

“Some of the findings frankly, can be hard to take, but the nature of an audit – I want to emphasize this – is to expose gaps so that we can address them,” Fischer said. “That’s what we want. Denial is not a strategy.”

While the list of recommendations is long, consultants expressed confidence the city can improve the relationship between the community and cops and boost morale over time.

The report’s publication comes less than two weeks after former Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields was sworn in as LMPD’s new chief. She succeeds Steve Conrad, who announced his resignation in May in wake of the Taylor shooting.

Just days later, Fischer dismissed Conrad earlier than planned after Louisville officers and members of the Kentucky National Guard were involved in the shooting death of David McAtee. That occurred as the city was trying to disperse a crowd in Louisville’s West End that had gathered after a curfew was enacted.

The controversial deaths of Taylor and McAtee, both Black, sparked outcry and led to weeks of protests in the city. Fischer pledged to implement reforms within the police department. That included the creation of a civilian board and an inspector general position to review police actions and eliminate the use of “no-knock” warrants. That was the type of warrant issued that led to Taylor’s death in March at her apartment as officers tried a late-night search.

The Hillard Heintze review was also part of the city’s plan, and the consulting firm used more than 7,800 responses as well as visits, policy reviews and interviews to craft the report.

Among the findings in the report is that while the Black community makes up about a fifth of the city’s population, Black drivers made up more than a third of the city’s traffic stops in 2019. When it comes to arrests, 41 percent of those arrested by LMPD that year were Black, nearly double the population percentage.

While the report said it’s important to recognize certain factors as criminal activity in the vicinity must be considered, it also “determined that strong evidence exists indicating Black individuals are treated disproportionately in every category – electronic stop data, paper stop data, field contacts, arrests and citations.”

On the officer side, the report said 75%, or a “strong majority,” of officers polled would quit the force if they could.

“(N)ational trends appear to indicate officers are leaving policing in larger cities across the U.S. However, our survey of LMPD officers and other data indicate that this trend is much higher in the LMPD than we have seen in other jurisdictions,” the report stated.

Shields has said she’s committed to helping implement reforms within the department.

“It does us no good to try to sugarcoat it: We have challenges,” she said. “We have work to do. And, we are going to do it, together.”

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