LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Fielding questions from Louisville Metro Council members Wednesday, newly appointed Metro Police Chief Erika Shields said positive change is on the horizon.
Despite an audit from Hillard Heinze that labeled the department as one in crisis, Shields said LMPD is fortunate to have the opportunity to see where changes need to be made and what specific issues need to be addressed.
The 155-page report following the audit outlines 102 recommendations for LMPD, highlighting key issues like policing, violent crime statistics, mistrust between the department and community, recruiting and retention of officers.
Shields told council members a way to develop trust with a large portion of Louisville's black community is to diversify those in leadership positions in LMPD.
"The worst thing that can happen — especially for law enforcement, where we're serving so many diverse communities — is when we're at the table and we all look alike," she said.
Currently, black men and women combined account for about 13% of LMPD's total sworn members, compared to Louisville's population, which is about 24% black. Shields said that highlights a recruiting problem and admitted those numbers should at least be similar.
To do that, she told Metro Council's Public Safety Committee that recruiting has to prioritize the city and create an attractive culture within the department.
"If you can't recruit within your footprint, you're not going to win," Shields said. "You also have to be coming to the table with, 'My facilities have to be as nice as the next person's facilities, or I'm going to lose that recruit."'Â
LMPD is struggling to locate recruits now, a time where the department is short 200 officers.
With the recruitment deadline Friday has only seen around 300 applications, a number that the department hoped to be at 500. It will likely limit the number of recruits LMPD decides to bring on.
The department admits that more officers could help improve morale and trust. More officers would allow for more opportunities to interact with the community, said Lt. Paul Humphrey, LMPD's commander of training and recruitment division.
"We know that the level of service, to an extent, is going to be contingent on the number of officers we have," he said.
River City Fraternal Order of Police has also called for more officers. The entire department consists of just more than 1,000 sworn members, and the FOP's leader said that number should be closer to 1,500.
"I hear the calls to 'defund the police' and 'funding should go other ways,' but if you want the police department that I believe this community wants to be — the premiere police department within our region — it takes a tremendous amount of resources to make all that happen," FOP President Ryan Nichols told WDRB News on Tuesday.
It would help address the hole in policing, Shields told the Public Safety Committee, which would in turn help cut down on the frequent violent crimes the city is seeing.
In 2020, Louisville saw a record-breaking 173 homicides along with a soar in car jackings. Shields said she knows how the department plans to approach that.
"If you're going after those individuals who you know are engaged in violent crime, when you get those individuals off the street, you start the change the narrative of the community," she told the Public Safety Committee. "What you find is they influence all of the other criminal activities."
Nearly a week after the Hillard Heinze report that scolded much of what's happening within LMPD, the newly appointed leader promises the community that it will notice the changes soon.
"Rest assured: Change is occurring real-time in LMPD," Shields said. "I expect that change to start impacting our performance externally."Â
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