JCPS prepares for a larger police department as start of new school year looms

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Jefferson County Public Schools has relied on Louisville Metro Police and other police departments for its school resources officers. But when LMPD recalled 20 of its officers in 2019, the district was forced to reconsider how to protect its students.

By now, most JCPS high school students are used to weapons detection systems at the front door. The district plans to install the same weapon detection systems at all the middle schools by winter break.

"A very creative way to think about how we could provide better security for our schools,” JCPS Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio said.

According to records obtained by WDRB for the 2022-23 school year, 28 firearms were recovered. During last school year, 10 firearms were recovered.

Starting this year, one of the new JCPS police officers will help school staff monitor students coming through the detection systems. Police will only intervene if a weapon is found.

“So for the most part, there is very little interaction with our officers,” Todd Kessinger, JCPS Chief of Police, said.

The district has hired 40 police officers, 35 are retired from other departments, and of those, 10 are part of the new JCPS command staff. Four were former JCPS officers that stayed on with the district, and seven, this is the first job in law enforcement. As of this week they have 15 openings.

“When we were building this we didn't want an agency that was full of retired officers, we wanted a good mix of young officers, and we wanted experienced officers mixed,” said Kessinger.

The re-imagined JCPS police department will not be fully staffed by the first day of school. But they expect to have all the positions filled by winter break.

“As it is in many industries there is a shortage of police officers,” said Pollio.

During the last school year, 200 students were arrested and almost half were charged with assault. The new JCPS police chief said shorter response times are critical to safe schools.

The district is adding a fully staffed dispatch center that will be open 24/7 and will take more than just calls for the police department.