LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Mayor Greg Fischer addressed public safety concerns before the Louisville Metro Council Committee of the Whole Thursday. It was a meeting prompted after weeks worth of back-and-forth. 

What You Need To Know

  • Mayor Greg Fischer will speak about public safety before the Louisville Metro Council Thursday

  • This comes after three council members sent Fischer a letter with public safety questions

  • Fischer sent a seven-page letter back to council members

  • The meeting takes place at 4 p.m.

 

There has been a lot of attention on public safety efforts in Louisville following the death of Tyree Smith. Smith was a Jefferson County Public Schools student who was shot and killed in Sept. while waiting at his bus stop.

“I cried. I could barely compose myself to speak. I couldn’t take it anymore,” councilman Anthony Piagentini wrote in a newsletter. “Shouldn’t a school bus stop at 6:30 a.m. in a residential neighborhood in the rain be the safest place on Earth? If children can’t stand at a bus stop and not be shot, who is safe? Who is next? At that moment, I promised myself I would dedicate all the effort I have to public safety until our community is one of the safest in our country.”

Two weeks ago, three council members wrote a letter to Mayor Greg Fischer regarding public safety concerns and questions. You can find that letter from Council President David James, council Majority Leader Markus Winkler and Council Minority Leader Anthony Piagentini here.

In that letter, the council members asked Mayor Fischer for some specific things including:

  • Creating a partnership between the city and Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS)
  • Utilize retirees to help Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD)
  • Increase recruitment efforts to address the shortage of LMPD officers
  • Reopen a juvenile justice detention facility in Jefferson County

Mayor Fischer sent a seven-page letter back to those councilmen. You can read that full letter here.

“Like you, I am sick and tired of Louisville families being devastated by the loss of a loved one to gun violence,” said Fischer.

The letter touched on a number of public safety initiatives in the city including:

  • The FY22 budget Metro Council approved increased violence prevention and capacity-building spending from $5 million to $19 million
  • Some of that funding goes to the Office for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods (OSHN) which provides outreach, peer support, mentorship, job training, conflict mediation and relocation away from dangerous situations
  • Fischer said, already, OSHN has served 183 community members and made 342 referrals for service. 50% of the needs/requests were related to housing/relocation and counseling/therapy needs
  • $500,000 went to Reimage, an initiative with Kentuckiana Works that helps people break the cycle of incarceration through quality career and school enrollment help. Since its creation, Reimage has served over 809 participants. During the last program year, ending June 30, 2021, Reimage served 91 new participants, as well as 108 who carried over from the previous program year
  • Negotiating a new FOP police contract with hopes to include more competitive salaries and help us retain and attract officers
  • Exploring ways to exempt retired officers from 12-hour shift requirements, which can be a deterrent to those otherwise interested in returning to service. LMPD has nearly 300 sworn officers and 80 civilian vacancies
  • LMPD redirected focus of its Criminal Interdiction Division (CID) from narcotics to violent crime. Fischer’s letter says, through Sept. 1, CID made 78 arrests, of which 45 are identifiable gang members
  • The Council voted to close the city’s DJJ facility in 2019. Fischer says he is in conversations with state officials about ways to address difficult pinch points in the process

 

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