LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The Louisville Metro Police Department’s Summer Task Force said it has been cracking down on illegal activity this season, focusing on street racing and other quality-of-life violations.

LMPD said the unit has made arrests, issued 127 citations, taken nine juveniles into custody and written dozens of parking tickets. In one night alone this summer, police said they recovered eight firearms. Officers also seized several cars allegedly used for street racing and located a child who had been reported missing.

While the task force highlighted those enforcement results, LMPD also faced renewed questions about how officers are trained to respond to people in mental health crisis — especially after the death of an unarmed naked man shot by LMPD Officer Nathan Stotts about a month ago. Stotts has since resigned, but the incident has brought officer training and decision-making back into focus.

LMPD said its officers receive ongoing instruction in de-escalation and crisis response.

"With 40 hours of training, every in-service incorporates the de-escalation skills," said deputy chief Emily McKinley. "Less lethal option, firearms training twice a year. Any sort of crisis response and decision making skills, as well as scenario-based training, that we get every single year."

MetroSafe, the region’s 911 and dispatch agency, has guidelines for when a mental health professional or EMS is sent instead of — or alongside — police. Officials sais this includes situations involving weapons, overdoses, threats of harm, violent behavior, self-harm injuries or suspected violent crimes such as domestic violence.

Despite the high-profile cases that draw attention, LMPD said mental health crisis-related calls remain steady. In the first five months of the year, the department handled fewer than 1,400 such calls.

For those calls, LMPD said officers used force less than 1% of the time in 2025.

"There are three officers who were injured during these encounters that equal to 0.09%," the department said. "A combined total injury of eight people were at a rate of 0.25%, so more than 99.7% of the encounters with our PD officers resulted in no reported injuries to either the consumer or the officer."

Those figures reflect mental health and mental health crisis-related calls — not every call that comes into MetroSafe.

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