Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman remains committed to crime reduction in Louisville

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WDRB) -- Wrapping up his first year as the state's top ranking law enforcement official, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said combatting violent crime in Louisville remains a top priority for his office.

He announced a partnership in October between his office and Louisville Metro to create the Violent Crime Reduction Team, a partnership aimed at addressing the city’s longstanding crime issues.

The initiative established a new Attorney General’s Office location in Louisville, staffed with two prosecutors and a detective to focus on violent criminal cases. The team also collaborates with the Jefferson County Commonwealth’s Attorney.

Coleman said the effort has already yielded results, with the team securing 20 indictments since its launch. The two prosecutors involved will also be cross-sworn as federal prosecutors, enabling them to pursue state or federal charges.

“We’re going to be able to evaluate these gun offenses, particularly these felony-in-possession, these trigger-puller offenses, using state law and federal law,” Coleman said. “Which brings the most significant stick? Which can incapacitate these folks and get them out of the community for the longest period of time? And that’s the stick that we’re going to apply.”

Coleman, a Republican, noted that despite political differences with other state and local leaders, like Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg, officials are united in their mission to reduce violent crime.

“We’re growing together,” he said.

Coleman also tipped his cap to the city and its leadership for appointing Paul Humphrey as the Louisville Metro Police chief, who he believes is a key piece in reducing crime in Kentucky's largest city.

"At the end of the day, law enforcement is a local matter, and LMPD is the critical institution, and we have the right leader," Coleman said of the department and Chief Humphrey. "LMPD has to be well led. So many of the challenges with LMPD can be addressed by the right leadership"

In a sit down interview with WDRB News, Coleman also touted other accomplishments in his first year as the state's Attorney General. He cited the ongoing fight against the state's drug epidemic, and admitted that addiction and overdose deaths are a 'moving target.'

There were 1,984 Kentuckians that died from drugs in 2023, a decrease of more than 9% from the prior year, but Coleman said the work is far from finished.

Earlier this year, Coleman initiated a $3.6 million youth drug prevention initiative that is is creating an advertising campaign, installing school-based programs and funding more state-wide prevention work.

"The data point that jumps out at me now when you travel around the state is how many overdose deaths they had in that county the previous year," he said. "It is a frustration that we have not reduced that more than we have."

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