LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Erika Shields was sworn in Tuesday morning as Louisville's police chief, pledging to turn the embattled department into a "flagship agency."
Mayor Greg Fischer administered the oath of office to Shields during a ceremony at Metro Hall. Shields, the former Atlanta police chief, becomes the first woman to lead the Louisville Metro Police Department full-time.
"I am here to fight for you. I am here to listen to you," Shields said. "And I am here to help us bring forward the transformation that you all want to see within LMPD so that the department is a model that we can all stand proud of."
Shields takes over a Louisville department battling poor morale, an officer shortage and continued scrutiny for its handling of the early-morning raid on Breonna Taylor's apartment last March; three officers were fired and one indicted for their roles in that case. Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, died inside her home after she was shot by police serving a search warrant as part of a narcotics investigation.
The hiring of Shields is being met with skepticism by protesters and social justice supporters. She comes to Louisville after resigning from the Atlanta post last June after the fatal shooting of Rayshard Brooks, a Black man whom police shot and killed during a struggle in a Wendy's parking lot.
She acknowledged some of the public backlash and thanked Fischer for "having the confidence in my ability to get this job done."
When Shields was introduced as the new chief, she answered reporters' questions about the shooting in Atlanta. Shields tried to compare shootings of Brooks and Breonna Taylor. She has been criticized by the River City FOP for incorrectly saying Taylor was at home and "in bed and the police came into her apartment and she ends up dead." (Taylor was in bed watching a movie when she and Kenneth Walker, her boyfriend, heard banging at the door, Walker has said.)
After the news conference, Shields admitted she "may have mischaracterized" a critical fact in the Taylor case. Her remark and others brought a sharp response from the city’s police union, which said in a statement that she and Fischer ought to dispel “false narratives” about the case.
Shields becomes the city's fourth police chief in less than a year, heading the department in the final years of Fischer's third and final term as mayor.
Chief Steve Conrad was fired in June after Fischer learned that officers failed to turn on their body-worn cameras during the fatal shooting of business owner David McAtee during a joint National Guard and LMPD response to protests over Taylor's death. Conrad had already announced his retirement.
Interim Chief Robert Schroeder served from June until his retirement in September, when the department's acting chief, Yvette Gentry, succeeded him. Her final day on the job was Monday.
In the wake of Conrad's firing, Fischer announced a full review of the police department. The mayor said Tuesday that the final report would be made public later this month.
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