LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville Metro Police Chief Erika Shields said she was grateful for her time as head of the department and proud of the work it has done under her watch as she prepares to step down next year.   

“It is imperative that the work of the men and the women, what they’ve done in the last two years, be recognized, and I’m not going to sign off on this narrative that somehow we’re just going to start changing the department now,” Shields told Spectrum News 1. “That’s nonsense. This department has been busting its tail and there are so many changes that have been done.”

Mayor-elect Craig Greenberg said he will accept Shields’ resignation when he takes office next month and seek input from the community on a new chief. 

Shields was sworn in Jan. 2021 and previously served as Atlanta’s police chief until days after the fatal police shooting of Rayshard Brooks. 

She was the fourth chief to lead Louisville’s department since police shot and killed Breonna Taylor in March 2020.

“I wish I’d had more time. I feel like I did not get to spend nearly enough time in the community. My first year the community was shut down because of COVID... I had to heal the department before I could really assume that we were going to perform well externally and so a lot of my energy has been internally,” said Shields. “The systems just weren’t there. They were broken, and so for me, I really feel like I have not spent nearly enough time in the community that I would like to do.”

Despite a shortage of 300 officers, LMPD took 2,400 guns off the street this year, and shootings and homicides are down, Shields said. 

Louisville Urban League President and CEO Dr. Kish Cumi Price said the next chief needs to address issues within the department. 

“There is a need for leadership that understands how to create a culture that does not promote or condone the kind of treatment that we’ve seen, especially on Black and brown people in Louisville,” she said.