LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Two months ago, federal investigators rebuked the Louisville Metro Police Department for a pattern of practices that violated the constitution.

The city has already started to initiate changes with LMPD, including staffing more mental health professionals who can respond to certain 911 calls.

Officials with the Department of Justice are in Louisville this week, this time to talk with community members directly. They're seeking feedback on how to address the violations laid out in the report.

Monday night was the first of four of these meetings. They split into several different groups, with two DOJ representatives in each group to listen and answer questions.

"There’s a lot of personal pain," Vincent Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said he came to make sure his voice was heard, a cry that accelerated in 2020.

"We’ve been saying this, especially people in west Louisville," Gonzalez said. "We’ve been saying that this system is rife with corruption."

The raid of Breonna Taylor's apartment and her death sparked a summer of unrest and cries for justice, eventually leading to the DOJ's investigation.

Aaron Kent lives in west Louisville and came to the meeting hoping to hear solutions and a path forward.

"All we want is justice. All we want is justice. Just like the rest of the world," Kent said.

But for now, this is a conversation including a simple question: what does better policing look like?

"Better policing is accountable policing," Gonzalez said. "Talk to us, this is a mutual thing.”

"An accountable police department would be one that is sympathetic and serve and protect people, not assault and terrorize and some of the things that the DOJ report spelled out," Kent said. "Better policing looks like community-friendly, community-involved, community-driven."

"Visible in the right way in trying to restore and make relationships," Kenya Wade said.

Wade sees a direct connection between a positive presence of police officers and a decrease in turning to violence, especially for children.

"It would help in kids being safe, and not bringing guns to school," Wade said.

"I don't believe that all police are bad, but all people who live in the community aren't bad either," Kent said.

Building trust starts with conversation, but this process is only just beginning.

The next public meeting with DOJ officials will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 9 at the South Central Regional Library at 7300 Jefferson Boulevard.

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