Louisville's inspector general asked to investigate alleged LMPD party involving sex, alcohol in 2019

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Louisville Inspector General's Office is investigating abuse of police power following a 2019 retirement party in the Louisville Metro Police Department's Homicide Unit that allegedly involved sex and alcohol.

LMPD has since concluded its own internal investigation, which the department said found no wrongdoing.

But an anonymous complaint filed earlier this summer claims the department's investigation wasn't thorough enough. The Louisville Civilian Review and Accountability Board agrees, now the city's Inspector General is being asked to decide.

Monday, Inspector General Ed Harness told WDRB his office is investigating whether any policies were broken in connection to LMPD's 2019 internal investigation.

The investigation centers around an incident in March of 2019 that alleged officers drank in the homicide office at a retirement party, with some having to be driven home, and two officers had sex during the party. Officers were ordered not to talk about the party, according to the complaints.

The retirement party was for LMPD Maj. Todd Kessinger. An internal investigation by the department at the time found no evidence to support the allegations.

WDRB sued LMPD in 2020 after the department failed to release all the names of those accused and the initial complaint. The court ordered the release of some documents, which were partially redacted.

The department initially withheld surveillance video requested by WDRB, which the Kentucky Attorney General ruled was improperly held back.

The anonymous complaint filed earlier this summer was presented to the Civilian Review and Accountability Board at their last meeting, and then assigned to Harness for review.

When LMPD Chief Paul Humphrey was named interim chief, Mayor Craig Greenberg announced new pathways for department employees to report suspected wrongdoing. One of those is to report to the Office of Inspector General, along with LMPD chain of command, the office of the chief, and the Special Investigations Division.

Harness has not put a timeline on how long he expects the investigation to take.

LMPD released a statement to WDRB about its cooperation in the investigation.

“LMPD conducted a thorough investigation into this matter in 2019, interviewing more than 50 individuals, and found no policy violations or misconduct occurred. The Kentucky Attorney General reviewed our investigation in 2020 and determined that it was conducted thoroughly and in good faith. We remain committed to cooperating with the Office of the Inspector General on any topics in which they have the authority to investigate.”

LMPD is currently at the center of an ongoing investigation into an alleged adult pool party hosted and attended by LMPD officers. There are also several ongoing sexual misconduct lawsuits against the department.

An investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice found LMPD does not properly investigate internal sexual misconduct complaints. The department is in negotiations with the DOJ to agree on terms of a consent decree for federally mandated police reform.

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