LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Loud music, motorcycle gangs, and chaos, that's how people in the Highlands described the danger and recurring problems overtaking their neighborhood.Â
"It almost kind of seems like an overall sense of lawlessness in the Highlands," Shawn Reilly said.Â
Reilly doesn't believe the little things like traffic tickets are being policed.
"Racing motorcycles, racing cars, you know, all this stuff. It makes it very uncomfortable to walk on Bardstown Road, and also extremely dangerous."Â
Peg Catlett agrees with Reilly.Â
"Doing wheelies at all times in the night, running red lights. The other night we were sitting at a red light, and these five motorcycles came up behind us. This was about 6:37pm, and they did wheelies to get there. And then, once they surrounded our car, they went on to run the red light," Catlett said.
However, that's not all they describe. They say drag racing, burn outs, parking lot parties, and much more are "chronic problems" during the weekend.
"You've got noise violations all night long throughout the weekends. Neighbors can't sleep, you know. It's just a very uncomfortable situation," Reilly said.Â
Aaron Givhan, President of Highlands Commerce Guild, said businesses are helping keep the neighborhood safe. For example, he says, bars have test strips available for people to use to make sure their alcohol averages haven't been contaminated.
"The issues along Bardstown Road have not been inside businesses. They've been on the street. They're screening people. They're keeping guns out of their establishment and for the businesses that have kept that, they have had a very low incident rate," Givhan said.
Taylor U'Sellis has lived in the Highlands for decades. She said she's most worried about gun violence. Her street, Beechwood Avenue, saw Louisville's second homicide of the year, where one man died.
"I think someone was coming from the backdoor bars' parking lot and ran sort of onto our streets and was unfortunately killed by gun violence," U'Sellis said. "That led off this year in a really scary way for the people on our street."
Catlett has also lived in the Highlands for decades. She says, she started to notice a change in crime after the pandemic.
"There's a natural response from being cooped up for so long. I also think that there's a lot of inequity in our country, and a lot of the people have been hurt over the years, and are continually to be hurt and there's not enough done to help the poor or to add to the middle class. So you have wealthy people that are pretty comfortable, but everybody else is struggling," Catlett said.
Residents want the city to implement solutions.
"Lower alcohol and beverage control fees, in exchange for abiding by some of the neighborhood's desired late night policies," U'Sellis said.
"So, maybe putting everybody on an equal playing field where everything closes at, you know, 2 a.m. for say, like, the bars are closed, the food trucks are close, and then it's time to you know, start winding down," Reilly said.
About 40 people attended the town hall Tuesday, including two LMPD officers and Councilmember Ben Reno-Weber, who represents the area.
"We are a very lucky neighborhood in the sense that we have active involvement from our residents. Also, active involvement from our businesses, and then also the attention of law enforcement, which unfortunately, I think some other neighborhoods don't have the benefit,"Â U'Sellis said.
Louisville Metro Police is working to address the concerns. In recent weeks, the 5th Division has added two resource officers, so people can make nuisance calls and also noise complaints, that way other officers who are working on the streets can focus on curbing violence.
You can reach Fifth Division Resource Officer John Keeling at John.Keeling@louisvilleky.org, or by calling LMPD's tip line: 502-574-5673.
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