LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The next mayor of Louisville will take on a police department that's short hundreds of officers and is facing mandated reform from the federal government.
Louisville mayoral candidates, Democrat Craig Greenberg and Republican Bill Dieruf, have different ideas for public safety in the city.
For the third straight year, there are more than 100 homicides in Louisville. Violence has resulted in three deadliest years in Louisville Metro history.
| Â 2020 | Â 173Â |
| Â 2021Â | Â 188Â |
| Â 2022Â | Â 137 (year-to-date)Â |
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"Well without a doubt, the biggest issue is public safety," Greenberg said.
"No matter if I'm in the West End, or PRP, or Prospect, everyone wants safety," Dieruf said.
Both candidates believe Group Violence Intervention can be an effective program if fully implemented, which Greenberg and Dieruf said has not happened since it was adopted in 2020.
The goal is to stop shootings by showing those vulnerable to a life in crime, an alternate path.
Greenberg said officers and the community have to work together.
"Members of the clergy, neighborhood leaders, small business owners, formerly incarcerated individuals, anyone who wants to be a part of a solution," Greenberg said.
Dieruf supports intelligence-led policing, going after gang and cartel leaders. Dieruf said he's working with state lawmakers on bringing a youth detention center back to Louisville.
The problematic jail was closed for a number of reasons, including costs, in 2019. An LMPD lieutenant said last year the detention center closing has been one factor in a spike of juvenile shootings.
"Kids have to have consequences for their actions," Dieruf said. "But we also have to take the kids that we have in the juvenile system to help get them out of it."
Greenberg is putting guns at the center of his public safety campaign. The gun violence personally impacted him in February when a gunman opened fire in his campaign headquarters.
No one was hurt, but now Greenberg is targeting a way around a Kentucky law that requires LMPD to turn over confiscated guns to state police, who then auction the guns off.
"On the first day of my administration, we will continue to comply with Kentucky law, but only after rendering the guns inoperable," Greenberg said. "So that once a gun is confiscated and used to commit a crime in Louisville, it will never be used to commit a crime again."
Handguns up for auction.
There's also the matter of trust between LMPD and the community, hurt by recent incidents like officers throwing drinks out of their cars onto people and sexual assault by an LMPD detective. The killing of Breonna Taylor still looms large in the community as well.
Both candidates want to add more police officers, but Dieruf is endorsed by local police unions.
Dieruf said he will hold officers accountable if they run afoul of the law or abuse power.
"The ones that shouldn't be there, we should ask them to go some place else, and take away their certification, so they can't go to another department and do the same thing," Dieruf said.
When asked if LMPD did anything wrong on the night Taylor was killed, Dieruf answered, "It was, when, the search warrant is the place that where a lot of things went south. And I think that's going to come out in the courts, it already has come out to some. And when the search warrant is circumvented, that's what caused a lot of this situation. So that part was, yes, wrong."
The U.S. Department of Justice charged four former LMPD officer with federal crimes. Kelly Goodlett has pleaded guilty to conspiracy for knowingly including false information in the search warrant affidavit.Â
Greenberg says it is crucial to rebuild bridges between the community and LMPD, pledging to have the most trusted, trained and transparent department. He also envisions outside-the-box thinking when it comes to hiring.
"As law enforcement is asked to do more and more, wouldn't it be great if we would have social workers to be police officers, wouldn't it be great if we could have police also have a social worker background," Greenberg said.
Whoever wins office will oversee a police department still spending what's left of a record $220 million budget, and ultimately make the decision on who leads LMPD moving forward.
Related Stories:
- Louisville records lowest monthly homicide total this year in October
- Louisville leaders looking to improve city's Violence Intervention Program
- Lawmaker proposes $6.5 million in funding to reopen youth detention center in Louisville
- 2 former LMPD officers sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to throwing drinks at people
- City pays $1.8 million to 3 women who accused former Louisville police detective of sexual assault
- Breonna Taylor's neighbors sue former Louisville police officer, claiming her guilty plea entitles them to damages
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