CORRECTION: In a previous version of this story Shameka Parrish-Wright's name was misspelled. The error has been corrected. (May 31, 2024)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — One Louisville Metro Council member is seeking more transparency and accountability from the city’s police department. She’ll need the support of her fellow councilors before it can happen.

What You Need To Know

  • Shameka Parrish-Wright has filed a resolution that calls for more accountability from LMPD

  • She was elected to the Louisville Metro Council in November 2023 and serves District 3

  • The nine-section plan mirrors recommendations first published in the People’s Consent Decree

  • This comes as the city awaits a final version of a Department of Justice consent decree 

First term council member and community activist Shameka Parrish-Wright, District 3, recently filed a resolution outlining several actions she wants to see Louisville Metro Police Department and the city take.

It mirrors recommendations laid out in the People’s Consent Decree, which is a call for police reform backed by several community organizations published last year.  

Broken down into nine sections, Parrish-Wright’s proposal calls for the department and mayor’s office to publicly acknowledge institutional harms inflicted by LMPD, urges community stakeholders to be consulted monthly about consent decree negotiations, and release the names of officers and cited in the 2023 DOJ report, among other things.

“We want our Louisville mayor and police chief and every Louisville police officer to embrace and support this attempt to publicly right some wrongs and be on the right side of history,” Parrish-Wright said.

Parrish-Wright is the sole sponsor of this legislation. She’s hoping others will sign on too.

“I know that they paint me as anti-police, but I’m anti-corruption. I’m for human rights. I’m for the people,” she said.

Former state representative Attica Scott, who’s been vocal about police reform, supports what Parrish-Wright is trying to do.

“First of all, it will say to all of us who were out protesting in 2020 that we were heard, that our protests were not in vain,” Scott said. “It will also send a message to the institutions and systems that uphold police violence that we won’t take it anymore, we are not going to stand for this and a resolution is a policy start to all the changes that we demand to see.”

She adds it is now up to the community to encourage their council members to sign on as well.

“I’m going to stick with this. I know it’s an uphill battle. I’m going to try to push it through. I’ll meet all of my colleagues where I can, but I’m leading off the people’s word and what they hired me to do,” Parrish-Wright added.

This resolution comes as the city awaits details on the looming Department of Justice consent decree. In February, the city received a draft version of the agreement, and is working on the final version behind closed doors. Last year the DOJ released a detailed report into LMPD, it found the department has engaged in a pattern of violating constitutional rights.

Spectrum News 1 reached out to Mayor Craig Greenberg’s office about this resolution.

A statement from his office read, “The Mayor took action ahead of the consent decree negotiations and joined Chief Gwinn-Villaroel to apologize for the harm LMPD has done in the past, released information on officers named in the DOJ report, and immediately began implementing reforms.”

The statement ended saying, “Mayor Greenberg strongly believes that transparency and accountability are critical to having the police department we want and that our community deserves—and he will continue this work now and through the consent decree process.”

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