LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- For decades, the Highlands has been a staple in Louisville, known for its good eats and great atmosphere. But what residents along Bardstown Road have experienced is late night filled with loud music, motorcycle gangs and shootings.
Last month, more than 300 people packed the pews of Douglass Boulevard Christian Church to voice their frustrations and concerns, many of them having reached a boiling point with crime, street racing and noise overtaking their quality of life.
Surveillance video shared from a resident — who wanted to remain anonymous — showed a fight in front of bars on Baxter Avenue over the winter escalated to gunshots. In recent months, residents said that's become an all-too-common occurrence. Most recently, three people were shot early the morning of July 31 near Bardstown Road and Bonnycastle Avenue. One man was killed.
More security footage shows cars being broken into and suspicious meetups right on the sidewalk. But it's not just the violence and crime that have neighbors fed up. It's also the street racing and burnouts. On a recent Friday night, a group of motorcyclists overtook Bardstown Road. Nearby residents said they've seen nights where as many as 30-50 motorcyclist race in packs.
Highlands residents are fed up.
"I certainly don't want to say to anyone who has shown me a bullet hole in their bathroom 'Be patient,'" Metro Councilman Ben Reno-Weber said. "What I want to say is 'We hear you.'"
Reno-Weber said after last month's community meetings, he and Councilman Andrew Owen who both represent bordering districts are committed to addressing crime and bettering quality of life.
"Part of what we're doing is trying to be responsive, testing and seeing what works and then scaling those things," Reno-Weber said.
It's a multi-step approach. First, Louisville Metro Police officers will increase on-the-ground patrols for at least a few weeks. Cops on the ground will start using a golf cart to patrol alleys and other areas where police cars can't maneuver. It's also trying to make officers more visible, with many officers also patrolling the area on foot.
LMPD also just trained its officers to start issuing noise citations to individuals for things like loud music and excessive revving of motorcycles. It will cost people $100 for the first offense and more subsequently.
That's in addition to the city rolling out a zero-tolerance policy for noise violations at businesses. Any business playing loud music that can be heard from 50 feet away is in violation of the city's noise ordinance, which LMPD hopes will be enforced by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. Bars and restaurants are charged $2,500 for the first offense, which had previously just been a warning.
Flanagan's Ale House on Baxter Avenue closes at 2 a.m., and live music on the back patio wraps up at 10 p.m. Drew Borgmann, who owns Flanagan's, said seeing more officers on the street is a great thing for the Highlands.
"Everybody just has to kind of do their small part, and that's what we're trying to do here, too," Borgmann said Friday. "... We just want to be a good part of the street in the community here.
Related Stories:
- Highlands residents want their neighborhood back. Here's an up-close look at a night on Bardstown Road.
- Uptick in crime in Louisville's Highlands prompting calls for bars to close earlier
- Highlands residents voice concerns at meeting about recent crime in the area, loud music from bars
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