Louisville's mayor discusses violence, homelessness, and ongoing search for police chief

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg says stopping violent crime is his number one priority moving forward.

"One murder is too many murders, we have had far too many so that's been our big focus," Greenberg said during a Jan. 27 appearance on WDRB in the Morning.

The mayor says his administration is working on short- and long-term solutions to prevent crime. He says community organizations are the key to working with young people to lead them away from a life of crime.

Greenberg says he will also be rolling out new initiatives in the coming months to get guns off the streets.

"We will be working to support our police to get them the resources they need to prevent crime from happening," Greenberg said.

"And we have to talk about the fact this is gun violence that is plaguing our city. So we will be rolling out a set of proposals and actions to reduce the number of illegal guns on our streets because, you're right, there are too many young people committing crimes, and they are also committing those crimes with guns, so we need to do something about that."

Greenberg also talked about the city's $32.5 million plan to help people living on the streets by providing a "medical respite" facility where homeless people can be treated, including patients recently released from hospitals with no place to go.

As for when a permanent police chief will be named, Greenberg says the process is well underway. He expects to make an announcement in the next couple of months.