LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Several Black-led organizations spent Tuesday evening demanding no new jail in downtown Louisville. They spoke about the issue prior to the third Mayor’s Night Out event held at the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage.
In April, Metro government released an extensive report on the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections. The report highlighted the conditions inside the jail after a dramatic jump in inmate deaths.
It also pointed out the shortcomings of an outdated jail facility as a significant factor, calling the facility “antiquated.”
Over a dozen people joined Shreeta Waldon in opposing a new jail on Tuesday.
“The problem with that is if we continue to pour money into incarceration, of folks, if we continue to pour money into jail systems, where is the money that goes into the work of harm reduction, and treatment and recovery efforts?” Waldon said.
She’s the Executive Director of the Kentucky Harm Reduction Coalition and was joined by nine other Black-led organizations that also voiced their opposition to the idea of a $400 million jail.
“If we continue to support an effort like a new jail, I want you to think about that, a new incarceration system a new way to put people into cages, if we support that, what we’re saying is that we do not truly have faith and believe in harm reduction. We don’t have faith and belief in our treatment efforts in this city alone,” Waldon said.
Mayor Craig Greenberg, D-Louisville, addressed the issue.
“First, we need to correct the record that there is no $400 million proposal to build a new jail,” Greenberg said.
Greenberg and his team, the mayor said, are focused on making conditions at the jail better for both the people incarcerated and the officers.
“We have a new program that provides additional mental health screening for individuals who are coming into the jail for the first time,” he said. “We’re working to support more programs so that individuals who are getting released have more access to social services and other programs so they can be successful when they are released from jail.”
And, in the coming weeks, the mayor’s team will interview candidates for a new LMPD police chief.
“I am looking for a well-respected, experienced leader who’s going to have the trust of the community, the trust of LMPD and that someone can that can truly implement reforms and improvement at LMPD so our police department is preventing violent crime, appropriately responding to violent crime and is doing it in a constitutional manner,” Greenberg said.
The mayor said he’s hoping to have an announcement on a permanent police chief by the end of July.