LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Members of three Louisville Metro Police divisions will need to re-apply for positions in newly formed units as part of a reorganization to absorb budget cuts and anticipated retirements.
Chief Steve Conrad has said the reorganization is necessary to get more officers back on patrol "where the rubber meets the road."
In a Nov. 15 memo obtained by WDRB News, Mayor Greg Fischer and Conrad dated Nov. 15 informed members of the Community Services Division, Narcotics Division and 9th Mobile Division that their units will be consolidated into new or existing divisions.
Conrad said last month, when the plan was announced, that the cuts were the "first of many difficult decisions." Because of budget challenges, the department is expected to employ 75 to 100 fewer officers by the end of the fiscal year, which ends in June.
The Community Services Division will be rolled into the Special Operations Division, and the Narcotics and 9th Mobile divisions will be consolidated into the new Criminal Interdiction Division, which will be under the command of Maj. Kim Burbrink.
Members of all three divisions will be "eligible to apply for any position, of the same rank." The memo says the reorganization will take effect Dec. 1.
The Special Operations Division will consist of one major, five lieutenants, 14 sergeant, 46 officers and the following unit:
- Administrative
- Special Events
- Traffic
- SWAT
- Canine
- Mounted Patrol
- Air Patrol
- River Patrol
The new Criminal Interdiction Division will consist of one major, five lieutenants, 13 sergeants, 55 detectives and the following units:
- Narcotics
- Focused Intelligence
- Violent Crime
- Administrative
When all the vacancies have been filled via current personnel applying for the new positions, all members who weren't selected for a unit in the new divisions will be moved to a vacant position in the Patrol Bureau, the memo reads.
Metro Council President David James said the cutbacks are a sign of the times and will continue until Louisville finds new revenue to supplement its difficult budget situation that's expected to only worsen.
"I think the chief's doing what he's forced to do due to the budget consequences of not having any revenue, and I think that it's not going allow the police department to serve the citizens in the way that they have in the past," he said.
Nicolai Jilek, the president of the River City Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 614, agreed.
"The public absolutely needs to expect less from LMPD as we continue down this road," he wrote to WDRB News. "I don’t know when, but at some point, the lack of investment in our public safety will manifest in tragedy.”
Meanwhile, Anthony Piagentini, a Republican on the Metro Council, thinks the mayor is reorganizing LMPD to put pressure on the council to raise taxes.
"I am sick and tired of LMPD being used as pawns in the (mayor's) political mission to increase taxes," he wrote. "Metro Council gave Mayor Fischer more money than what he requested to operate LMPD."
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