LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Bishop Dennis Lyons teaches one subject again and again to the people, young and old, who will listen: how members of his predominantly Black community should interact with the Louisville Metro Police Department if they’re ever pulled over.
Monday afternoon, outside his Gospel Missionary Church near Shawnee, the affable pastor was quick to hand out a pamphlet compiled by the Louisville Metro Police Department that encourages "Mutual Respect First. Object Later." Lyons calls the initiative "Code Green" and says many of his church members are now disciples.
But Lyons says he might not have to preach "Code Green" as much if LMPD’s force more accurately mirrored the demographics of Louisville. According to the most recent data on the U.S. Census Bureau website, Louisville/Jefferson County is 69.9% white alone and 23.5% Black or African American alone.
Louisville/Jefferson County's demographics, per the U.S. Census.
“We have suffered over the years, and we have suffered so long with inequity in our community among the Louisville Police Department, especially," Lyons said.
The demographics of city employees is a topic Metro Council's new Committee on Equity and Inclusion will study. Monday, committee members sought numbers from the city's equity administrator, to compare and contrast the racial breakdowns of the city’s various departments with the city’s population as a whole.
Councilman David James, D-6, who serves as co-chair of the committee, says it's a worthwhile pursuit.
"I think that it's important that we as Metro Government look like our community, and it's very difficult for the government to relate to the community if we're not looking like the community," James said.
The council committee didn’t get those answers in the Monday meeting, but it did get a promise from the equity administrator that he’d send them those numbers soon.
James and other council members requested a breakdown for all city departments that will also show if Black people are represented in managerial roles.
"For example, is it that all the line workers in a particular department may be Black and all the supervisors may be white?" James said. "We need to know those answers."
WDRB News reached out to Mayor Greg Fischer's office for more immediate numbers but didn’t get any Monday, however, we found some data sets on the city's Open Data website.
According to demographic data from June 2016 (that was modified by the city in March 2019), the diversity of Louisville Metro Government employees is generally in line with the city’s demographics. According to the spreadsheet, the city employed 3,467 workers of which 840 (25%) were Black and 2,514 (73%) were white.
However, the numbers also show that a few city departments fell short when compared to the city's overall population.
The spreadsheet shows a majority white staff at the Louisville Zoo, with just a handful of Black employees. That data shows the Library system’s employees were 12% Black and 83% white. At Fire and Rescue, 13% were Black and 85% white. The Public Works Solid Waste Management services, meanwhile, had employees who were 12% white and 83% Black.
Source: Louisville Metro Police Department data from Oct. 2020
WDRB News also found newer data, from October 2020, that shows LMPD’s staff doesn't align demographically with the city's population. According to the chart, posted to the city's website, LMPD's staff of 1,124 officers is 13% Black and 82% white. They're concerning numbers to James.
"I think a more diverse police department, in all areas, only benefits our city," he said.
Lyons agrees and says the disparity has to change. He encourages Metro Council and Mayor Fischer to make diversity more of a priority.
"As long as we keep talking up there in the chief's office and as long as we keep talking up there around the mayor's office, it's not going to really take an effect," he said.
Councilman James, meanwhile, says when the committee gets more thorough data from the mayor's administration, it will use it to see just how great the disparity is before deciding what council can do to narrow the gap.
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