LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Louisville officially has a new police chief. 

Friday afternoon, Mayor Craig Greenberg administered the oath for Chief Paul Humphrey to lead the Louisville Metro Police Department. 

Humphrey is already sharing plans for moving forward. After he took the oath, he outlined short-, mid- and long-term approaches for tackling violent crime in the city he grew up in.

"It's pretty awesome to be up there and see all these people and feel the love that I know it's not just for me, it's for everyone who does this job. So it's very important that we get this right," Humphrey said.

The chief has spent his career with LMPD. He joined the department in 2006 and spent several years as an officer in the city's 1st and 6th Divisions in the Newburg and Russell neighborhoods. In 2010, Humphrey joined the SWAT team and eventually became its commander. 

Greenberg said Humphrey is the first permanent chief in LMPD history to come up entirely through the ranks of the department. 

"It gives great strength and stability to our leadership at LMPD, the officers and professional staff at LMPD know Chief Humphrey, they respect him, they've worked with him, and they're excited and ready to move forward the way we all want LMPD to move forward," said Greenberg.

Humphrey has been the interim chief since this summer, when chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel was asked to resign over her handling of sexual harassment allegations. He is the sixth LMPD chief in four years.

The harassment allegations are just one of the scandals surrounding the department in recent years. LMPD also faces federally mandated police reform, after a Department of Justice investigation revealed a pattern of civil rights violations. 

That investigation was prompted by the death of Breonna Taylor in 2020 during a botched March 13, 2020 raid in which four officers were criminally charged and the city paid more than $10 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit. 

Police have been heavily criticized for illegal traffic stops, sexual harassment lawsuits, using excessive force and the sexual abuse of juveniles in the department's youth Explorer program, which also led to arrest of officers and a $3.55 million settlement. 

In all, the city has paid more than $75 million since 2016 to settle lawsuits on behalf of the department. 

And most recently, the department drew international criticism for the arrest of pro golfer Scottie Scheffler outside Valhalla Golf Club for allegedly "dragging" a police officer while trying to drive around security and enter the club. The charges were later dropped. 

A primary goal for Humphrey is to gain community trust. He said  communication is key. 

"The biggest obstacle in leadership period is always communication. And we have to do a better job of communicating with the public. Communication is a two way street, right? So we can tell you all kinds of things, we can put out all kinds of information, but we also have to listen and get feedback and that's an important part of it," he said.

In addition to Humphrey's swearing in Friday, there were several other promotions within the police department. Humphrey has reorganized his command staff and changed or promoted 16 of the 24 command staff members.

Greenberg said this is the largest change in LMPD's command staff in recent memory. Friday, Assistant Chief Emily McKinley took the oath of office in her promotion to deputy chief. She will be chief of staff. Ryan Bates is also now a deputy chief. He will serve as the chief of operations. 

"We love Louisville. I'm not sure the number, but the majority of all of us are home grown kids from Louisville. This is where our families are, our kids go to school here, I went to public school here, I'm a graduate of Seneca High School," said McKinley. "... this is our town and we want it to be successful, we want it to be safe, we want our families to be safe."

Humphrey said violent crime has to stop. During his speech Friday, he outlined a plan that includes getting repeat violent offenders off the streets, putting more resources and focus toward investigations of violent crime, improving technology, building interactions and trust within the community, and more.

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