LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — A small group of repeat offenders accounted for nearly 1,800 felony charges in Louisville last year, according to newly-released data tied to a new initiative aimed at reducing violent crime.
In an effort to trim that number, the Louisville Metro Police Foundation launched the Repeat Offender Initiative, a collaborative effort designed to bring law enforcement, prosecutors and community partners together to focus on people with multiple felony convictions who continue to reoffend.
"A small amount of people are responsible for a large amount of crime," said Joshua Chavez, director of the Crime Reductions Program for the Louisville Metro Police Foundation. "If we can target this population that is responsible for a lot of the crime, maybe we can change the trajectory and reduce crime overall."
Chavez is spearheading the foundation-led initiative, drawing on his experience leading Atlanta's Repeat Offender Initiative. It will serve as the blueprint for Louisville's new program. In Atlanta, overall crime decreased significantly since the initiative was revived in 2022. Homicides have decreased by 43% since then, according to the Atlanta Police Department.
"There's been a lot of good that's come out of that program — not just repeat offender related but just kind of creating change across the entirety of the system," Chavez said.
Preliminary data released as part of the initiative in Louisville shows, in 2025, 581 repeat offenders were responsible for 709 felony cases totaling 1,786 charges. On average, each offender had four felony convictions across three separate cases. More than half of the cases — 52% — resulted in a prison sentence, while 42% resulted in probation and 8% ended in diversion, time served or discharge. Eighty-three percent of cases were resolved through a guilty plea to the original charge.
The most common charges were possession of a firearm or handgun by a convicted felon, first-degree criminal mischief and second-degree escape.
Chavez said the numbers highlight the need for a more coordinated response.
"There's a lot of people that are trying to make Louisville safer, trying to do the right thing," he said "And I think ... bringing everyone together to have these conversations and being a neutral party will really pay dividends."
The initiative aligns with the city's broader Safer Louisville violence-reduction strategy and will be structured around three pillars: rehabilitation and prevention, intervention and accountability, and enforcement and public safety.
The foundation will facilitate a Violent Repeat Offender Commission, an advisory body made up of public safety leaders that will review data and develop non-binding recommendations. A Violent Offender Data Analysis Unit will support the effort by compiling and analyzing real-time data on repeat offenders.
LMPD Chief Paul Humphrey said the initiative complements the department's focus on apprehending violent offenders and removing illegal firearms.
"Much of the crime in Louisville is driven by a small group of individuals," Humphrey said in a statement. "LMPD's Crime Reduction Strategic Plan focuses on apprehending the most violent offenders, removing illegally possessed firearms, and ensuring successful prosecutions. We welcome the Repeat Offender Initiative, which brings the right partners together to share critical information and act on it together."
The Jefferson County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office is a part of the collaboration. Prosecutors believe real-time data collected through the imitative will lead to more effective and intentional prosecution of repeat offenders.
"We are honing in as much as we can to try to fixate on how do we get to these folk," Commonwealth's Attorney Gerina Whethers said.
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman called repeat offending a central driver of violence.
"Violent crime is Louisville most pressing threat, and it continues to be driven by repeat offenders," Coleman said in a statement. "By investing in zealous collaboration among local, state and federal law enforcement, we can leverage every talent and resource available to keep Kentucky families safe."
While officials emphasized the initiative is not solely focused on incarceration, they said it will examine when rehabilitation, supervision or confinement is most appropriate — and whether the current system is responding consistently to repeat offending.
"Bad guys, good guys, left, right — everybody can agree to one thing, and that is everybody wants to live in a safe community, and I think this will help do that," Chavez said.
Leaders said success will ultimately be measured not by meetings or reports but by whether the number of repeat offenders declines in the coming years.
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