Hope, doubts hang on city’s Synergy initiative

The 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.”

Fischer has put forward a budget proposal that would send the Synergy Project initiative $675,000, funding that city officials and program leaders say is vital to repairing the broken relationship between citizens and LMPD.

That program, launched in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic and Taylor’s death, brought together members of the police department and community for “action sessions” that functioned like guided conversations to see both sides’ perceptions and build trust.