LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The question came up at a luncheon hosted by the Louisville Forum this week, where the mayor and police chief discussed issues like public safety: Would adding a Kentucky State Police post in Louisville be helpful to the Louisville Metro Police Department?

What You Need To Know

  • Adding a Kentucky State Police post to Louisville is part of Republican gubernatorial nominee Attorney General Daniel Cameron's public safety plan 

  • Louisville's police chief said she'd support having additional law enforcement presence 

  • The question was raised at a forum in Louisville this week  

  • The proposed post is also part of a plan from Republican lawmakers 

LMPD Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said she would support any additional law enforcement presence.  

“I can’t speak to what their role will be, but coming into the city of Louisville,” she said. “I’m hoping that it would not distract or take away from other duties around the state, but having another additional show of presence within our city is fine with me.”

Adding a KSP post in Louisville is part of the public safety plan put forward by Republican candidate for governor, Attorney General Daniel Cameron.

He was quick to share the chief’s support of the idea, posting a statement on his website that day and mentioning it in remarks the following day.

“The chief of police in Louisville came out in support of a couple of the policies of my plan because it’s not about Republican versus Democrat,” Cameron said Thursday. “This is about common sense and keeping our community safe.”

A Louisville KSP post is also part of an 18-point public safety plan from Republican lawmakers.

Mayor Craig Greenberg, D-Louisville, said the city has a great partnership with the state police.

LMPD recently announced it will resume internally investigating shootings involving its officers and share the case files with KSP.

Greenberg did not back the proposed KSP post.

“They are strained for resources just like LMPD is,” Greenberg said at the forum on Wednesday. “They’re looking for more officers. There are parts of our state that rely on KSP to be their police department, so my suggestion to the Legislature is provide some more funding for local police departments like LMPD, so that KSP can continue to focus on its mission around the entire state.”

He did, however, express support for making carjacking its own crime.

That’s part of Cameron’s public safety plan as well as the plan from Republican lawmakers.

Cameron said in a statement Wednesday, “Today, two leaders in Louisville embraced key pieces of my public safety plan: enacting a standalone carjacking statute and adding an additional Kentucky State Police post in the city, which has seen an 80% increase in homicides since Andy Beshear took office. I am proud of the growing bipartisan support for the Cameron Public Safety Plan.”

Cameron’s opponent, Democratic incumbent Gov. Andy Beshear criticized the KSP post proposal at a debate hosted by NKU earlier this week.

“Putting a post in Louisville would take the one or two troopers that right now monitor and are around a rural county and eliminate them, making each of those rural counties less safe,” Beshear said.

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