LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — When residents of a condo complex on Hite Avenue in Louisville heard screaming around 6 p.m. Jan. 12, 2024, they called 911. They warned there had been domestic problems at the same home just days earlier — and this time, the man suspected of abuse had taken the woman's phone.

MetroSafe records show it took officers with the Louisville Metro Police Department nearly three hours to knock on the door. When they did, Donna Stukenborg answered with blood pouring down her face and her eye swollen shut. She'd been beaten and held captive with a knife by her ex-boyfriend, Richard Scott Gregory, all that time.

"I expected him to kill me that weekend," Stukenborg said in an interview with WDRB News. "He punched me with his fist and then shattered (my face) — orbital fracture — and then my brain was bleeding."

Stukenborg had an active domestic violence protection order against Gregory, requiring him to stay away from her. The order called for his arrest if he violated it.

But that didn't happen Jan. 12. Instead, LMPD internal investigation records reveal Sgt. Todd Jenkins told the officers initially assigned to the 911 run, Kristopher Pedigo and Davis McCue, not to go. They were nearing the end of their shift, and Jenkins told the Professional Standards Unit investigator he didn't want to "hold them over," explaining how domestic runs often take extra time.

"The call comes out, (and) they were a male and a female arguing on the steps," Jenkins said to the PSU investigator. "I didn't think that was a high priority — even a domestic of this nature — that they were just arguing on the steps."

LMPD delayed releasing the internal investigation records detailing how the call was handled, including video and interviews tied to the response. Four months after the first request and only after repeated subsequent requests, LMPD released the video of Jenkins explaining why he called officers off the run. 

911 recordings show Jenkins assigned himself to the call, saying he'd make his way there "slowly" and told the dispatcher to let him know if there was any more trouble.

He never went.

The screams and cries faded, and neighbors never called back. Stukenborg said she was sitting in her home, suffering in silence, trying to figure out a way to survive.

"I kept thinking I can't get away from him," she said. "I just kept praying."

'25 days straight'

The questionable call by Jenkins — and the failure to arrest Gregory that night — was deeply scrutinized after Stukenborg filed a lawsuit.

"The rule is it's a high-priority call, " said David Barber, Stukenborg's attorney. "You can't de-escalate it. You can't hold it."

As scrutiny grew, another issue surfaced: The sergeant who called officers off the run because of quitting time made more in overtime than anyone else in LMPD.

"Is there a correlation between things like this — violations of operating procedures and the amount of overtime that officers are working?" Barber said.

Three years of Louisville Metro Government payroll records show Jenkins was the highest-paid person in LMPD in 2024. He made $294,000 that year, nearly triple his salary, with $176,000 coming from overtime — more than LMPD Chief Paul Humphrey, more than the department's command staff and more than Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg.

"I was working 24, sometimes 25 days straight," Jenkins said in a recent phone interview with WDRB News. "I was in the Army. Those hours are not nothing. Most of my overtime hours I was sergeant in other divisions. So although I was on the clock, I'm not physically out there taking runs."

Jenkins isn't alone. Between 2023-25, payroll records show 17 officers more than doubled their pay with overtime. Another 170 officers made at least $50,000 in overtime last year alone.

"I would love if we had a fully staffed police department and this wasn't an issue we had to talk about, " River City FOP President John Ramsey said, pointing to the officer shortage.

LMPD is down a reported 300 officers, even as the city's homicide rate declines.

"We're making sure that the streets are safe, that officers have adequate backup, and that's why you're seeing an uptick and the amount of overtime," Ramsey said.

Overtime has cost taxpayers $66 million in the last three years. The highest earners, like Jenkins, average upwards of 80 hours a week, with some working 16-hour days and going weeks without a day off.

"I think overtime is a taxpayer issue. The real question, though, is, what are we paying for," Barber said. "I don't think any of us are going to be upset if it turns out that our tax dollars are being well spent and we're paying fresh officers, we're paying people that are doing their jobs right. But if we find out that our tax dollars are going to pay fatigued officers who maybe are not following the operating procedures, that are putting people in danger, nobody wants to pay for that."

There is no cap on overtime in LMPD, only union rules requiring minimum rest between shifts.

"I definitely don't think that it is safe for the officers, especially with some of the things that they face every day," Metro Councilwoman Tammy Hawkins said after learning of the city's police overtime costs in an interview with WDRB. "I appreciate the officers that want to come in and work overtime, but that's a lot of overtime."

'A huge concern'

The high cost of overtime may not be solely tied to hours spent policing the streets. LMPD's contract with Metro Government includes a provision stating "annual leave/holidays shall be computed as days worked for the purposes of overtime."

The Union fought to get the language added to the contract in 2023.

The clause in effect allows officers to leverage vacation for overtime without working extra minutes. For example, if an officer takes vacation Monday and Tuesday and works the rest of the week, those vacation days still count toward 40 hours in a week — meaning any additional time can be paid at time-and-a-half.

This example is based on patrol officers and sergeants working an 80-hour, 14-day cycle and said officer working a standard 40 hours for the alternate week.

"We spend hundreds of hours going back and forth in negotiation on these benefits," Ramsey said. "We're trying to attract the best officers we can."

The agreement LMPD is operating under goes beyond what federal law requires under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Guidance for employers from the U.S. Department of Labor says "even though the employee is paid" for a holiday, vacation or sickness, that time "is not hours worked and need not be included in the total hours worked for overtime purposes."

Of the 21 union contracts across Metro Government, 19 specifically block this benefit — with the exception of police and fire. Fire's overtime costs are lower — about $41 million from 2023-25 — and its contract includes safeguards to limit excessive overtime with staffing changes.

Ramsey said the union fought to include the language in the contract that was backdated to take effect in 2023, and payroll records show overtime began spiking that same year. The average employee went from making about $10,000 a year in overtime in 2023 to $25,000 last year — a 40% increase that outpaced wage gains.

"I'm kind of blown away ... that's a huge concern," Louisville Metro Councilwoman Tammy Hawkins said.  

A prior WDRB investigation exposed officers faking overtime to boost pay and retirement benefits. Former Officers Brian Stanfield, Todd Roadhouse and Mark Final pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2020. Two of them admitted their actions were part of a "culture" in the department.

After acknowledging their guilt, both Roadhouse and Final argued for probation instead of prison, pointing out what they did wasn't unusual, according to documents in U.S. District Court.

Roadhouse was one of the department's best officers who "succumbed to a long standing culture whereby overtime hours were often padded," his attorney said in court records.

In a statement to the judge, Final said his commanding officer would often send him home early and allow him to claim overtime he didn't work.

"This was not something that was hidden. This was done routinely, and everyone is aware of it," he wrote in his statement. "I have always been a 'rules guy.' I guess that I just began to go along with the cultural norms instead of following my own path of what I knew to be right."

U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings sentenced Stanfield, Roadhouse and Final to 21 months of probation.

Hawkins said she supports overtime but questioned whether it's being used effectively in the districts where it's needed most.

"Where are they?" she said. "If you got 17 officers that are coming in for overtime, how much of a difference are they really making?"

The vice chair of the council's public safety committee, Hawkins said she would support an independent audit of LMPD overtime practices seeking to clarify who's working, where they're working and if the system aligns with the city's needs.

"I want to make sure that I am doing my due diligence, serving the city of Louisville (and) serving my district. So yes, I'm definitely going to take the first dive into it. I do believe the taxpayers deserve an answer," she said, adding she believes excess overtime can lead to questionable decision-making.

'It's so hurtful'

Gregory got 10 years in prison for the attack on Stukenborg. Jenkins retired mid-investigation into the response and moved to Texas.

"I'm sorry this happened to this individual, but it was beyond our control," Jenkins said.

LMPD records show the Professional Standards Unit investigator recommended domestic violence policy violations against three officers, including Jenkins.

The PSU major moved to exonerate the other two.

Humphrey declined an interview for this story. A department spokesperson sent a statement, calling overtime a "reality" in public safety, allowing officers to maintain consistent coverage of their districts amid department investigations and quick responses to emergencies around the city.

"LMPD is grateful to our officers who are dedicated to keeping Louisville safe," the department statement said.

Stukenborg said she didn't see that dedication the night she needed it most. As officers failed to respond that night in 2024, she said she sat and suffered, and the officer who worked the most left her feeling like she mattered the least.

"I don't understand your role as a cop," she said. "... It's so hurtful ... you trust them, and it felt like they didn't care." 

A judge dismissed Stukenborg's lawsuit against Jenkins in Jefferson Circuit Court as it was filed after the one-year statute of limitations passed. Barber contends Metro Government deliberately delayed open records requests and concealed Jenkins role in the slow response to her home. He's taking the case to the court of appeals.

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