8 people named to panel interviewing candidates for next LMPD chief

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A panel of eight people will be in charge of helping in the search for Louisville's next police chief.

In a news release, Mayor Greg Fisher announced members of the panel that will screen, interview and recommend their choice for the Louisville Metro Police chief job. Among the eight are Metro Council members, Metro Government officials, the city's Public Safety chief and an elementary school teacher.

"I think we really have the ability to pave and paint a new chapter for the city," said Councilwoman Jessica Green, D-1.

"It's important for me that we have an individual that comes from a city that is somewhat comparable to ours in terms of diversity and some of the issues that we have," she added. "I want a chief that is going to be progressive in terms of policy, in terms of community policing."

The eight people on the panel are:

Kendall Boyd, LMG Chief Equity Officer
Jessica Green, Public Safety Committee Chair, Metro Council
Amy Hess, Chief of Public Safety
David James, Metro Council President
Vincent James, Chief of Community Building, LMG
James Peden, Public Safety Committee Co-Chair, Metro Council
Carmen Moreno-Rivera, Chief of Performance Improvement, LMG
Sharon VanCleave, Teacher, Rangeland Elementary (JCPS)

Metro Council passed a resolution calling for the search panel to include members of Metro Government, the Council president and heads of the Council's Public Safety committee and one private citizen.

In the news release, Fischer said the panel will focus on the need for police reform and accountability while considering input from listening sessions and a community survey done over the summer. They will also use guidelines from the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), the nonprofit Washington, D.C.-based police research organization.

"I think this can be an opportunity moving forward for us to really view how government should work in a new kind of way," Green said.

Metro Council President David James, a former LMPD officer, said in a statement that the selection process will be one of the most important for the city going forward.

"Our challenge is to find the right candidates who will listen to the community and are interested in building relationships that reform LMPD and help us retain and locate the right people who want to walk our streets and neighborhoods," he said, emphasizing the need for the process to be as "transparent as practically possible."

"It's really important that our permanent police chief that's going to go and finish the term with Mayor Fischer, it's critical that we have a lot of community involvement in this," James said.

Rangeland Elementary School teacher Sharon VanCleave will serve as the only private citizen on the panel. She has served in leadership roles in the Kentucky Education Association and National Education Association. She has also served on JCPS' Racial and Equity Committee.

More than 20 people applied by the Aug. 31 deadline for the permanent LMPD chief job. Mayor Fischer has said he hopes to name a chief by the end of the year. The panel will begin evaluating the applications and start the interview process. Anyone can submit interview questions by emailing: LouisvilleChiefQuestions@policeforum.org.

Yvette Gentry, a retired former deputy LMPD chief, was sworn in on Thursday as interim chief after Robert Schroeder retired.

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