Transparency, more police resources outlined in city leaders' new 'Safer Louisville' plan

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Twelve Republican members of Louisville Metro Council's minority caucus rolled out more than a dozen proposals at City Hall on Tuesday, ideas including adding state police patrols on Jefferson County interstates, cracking down on illegal ATV use and funding more cameras and streetlights in high-crime neighborhoods.

At City Hall on Tuesday, the group highlighted several categories to improve safety in the city, many of which they plan to formally propose in the next year:

Adding State police patrols on Jefferson County Interstate Roadways
Eliminating streetside solicitation
Funding a pilot program to place streetlights in 2 high crime areas.
Cracking down on illegal ATV use
Seeking a timely reopening of the Juvenile Justice Center
Calling for the planning and development of a New Jail to improve worker and inmate safety.
Funding programs to increase number of Traffic Feedback Signs, Flock Cameras and Real Time Video Cameras deployed within Metro.
Supporting efforts to increase transparency and create a "scorecard" for better awareness on Judicial and Prosecutorial decisions especially involving violent criminals.
Funding for construction of a new First Responder Training Facility

"When each member of our Caucus campaigned for office, they cited improving public safety as their top priority," Councilman Anthony Piagentini, R-19, said in a news release Tuesday. "Although we have already successfully executed some changes, there is a lot more work to do. We believe that Louisville can be one of the safest cities in the country. To accomplish that, we have developed this plan that we wanted to share with the public to further this goal. We cannot have a successful city until we have a safe city."

The centerpiece of the plan is a call to reopen the Jefferson County Youth Detention Center, which has been closed since 2019. The building is undergoing a $40 million renovation, but the project is not expected to be complete until 2027. By then, the U.S. Department of Justice is expected to issue new rules on how Kentucky handles juvenile offenders.

"It's an emergency situation that we don't have a juvenile detention center here in Louisville,” Councilman Kevin Bratcher, R-22, said Tuesday. "As a legislator and many of my colleagues from Louisville, we funded this. It’s been over $30 million at this point given to get this facility back up to snuff.”"

The plan was was signed by 12 council members:

Councilman Anthony Piagentini, District 19
Councilman Khalil Batshon, District 25
Councilman Dan Seum, District 13
Councilman Kevin Kramer, District 11
Councilman Jonathan Joseph, District 12
Councilwoman Crystal Bast, District 14
Councilman Scott Reed, District 16
Councilwoman Marilyn Parker, District 18
Councilman Stuart Benson, District 20
Councilman Kevin Bratcher, District 22
Councilman Jeff Hudson, District 23
Councilwoman Ginny Mulvey-Woolridge, District 24

Council members said public involvement is key and they want residents to help hold leaders accountable with what they're calling a new "safety scorecard."

Mayor Craig Greenberg said many of the ideas mirror work already being done by his administration but he welcomed the added support.

"Improving public safety is not a partisan issue," he said. "We are proud of the progress we've made to improve public safety. We know that we can and we must do more and do it faster — and that's exactly what we are working on every day."

See below to read the full proposal released Tuesday:

Download PDF