Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg and LMPD interim police chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel spoke to the CLOUT organization assembly on Monday.
Read MoreCitizens of Louisville Organized and United Together brought together various local leaders, clergy and mayoral candidates at its annual assembly Monday night to push officials to more urgently fight gun violence in the city and improve relationships between police and residents.
During its Nehemiah Action Assembly at St. John Paul II Parish, 3521 Goldsmith Lane, CLOUT sought commitments from Mayor Greg Fischer; Louisville Metro Police Chief Erika Shields; and Metro Council President David James, D-6th District; to launch the “Truth and Transformation” initiative within the next month.
Read MoreHello, boosted violence-prevention funding. But goodbye, Synergy Project. Louisville Metro Council signed off Thursday on a fiscal year 2021-22 budget that largely preserves the police and public safety spending proposed by Mayor Greg Fischer — choosing not to cut the embattled Louisville Metro Police’s funding.
The $1.04 billion budget, approved 24-2 Thursday, comes after months of discussion including an engaged public calling for funding changes to public safety following a year of protests and record violent crime.
Read MoreThe slaying of Breonna Taylor and the heated protests that followed directed for months at Louisville Metro Police has built a chasm of distrust between many community members and officers.
The question is: How can the city rebuild that trust? Mayor Greg Fischer and other city leaders are betting a new city project will help provide the cure. Its critics, however, have called the project a “waste of time.”
Read MoreTo move forward together, Louisville should prioritize the building of police-community relations. It should begin with confession. In the wake of the civic trauma of the past year, following the killing of Breonna Taylor and its aftermath, both in the streets and in the criminal justice system, we see no way for Louisville to move forward with any sense of unity and momentum toward a more just future unless the city undertakes a deep and broad process of building better police-community relations.
Read MoreIn Louisville, few of us would disagree that our local criminal justice system — police, courts, prosecutors, corrections — does not provide equal justice for all of our citizens. Many of us, in fact, have been victimized by these systems. Some have even lost their lives. Violence — in the form of murders, shootings and police actions — continues to tear apart our community. Historically, and still today, we have been given a false choice between continued violence or overpolicing. Research has proven that overpolicing actually creates more violence. We need a different kind of policing. We need a different kind of criminal justice system. We need different interventions with people in crisis.
Read MoreAt a Community Problems Assembly meeting Tuesday at St. John Paul II Catholic Church, Louisville officials reported progress on several promises made to CLOUT (Citizens of Louisville Organized Together) over the last year. Here are the four issues and what officials had to say about them…
Read MoreMayor Greg Fischer needs to do more to ensure Louisville police officers will avoid using deadly force when dealing with people coping with drug addiction or suffering from mental illness, a faith-based group said...
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