LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For the first time in his tenure as interim police chief, Paul Humphrey appeared in front of the Civilian Review and Accountability Board to answer crucial questions on Aug. 28.
The board is in place to work to build a layer of impartial review for the Louisville Metro Police Department and oversees the work of the Inspector General's Office, which investigates complaints of alleged incidents of improper conduct by members of LMPD.
“I think it’s important to have someone else tell your story. Good, bad, indifferent. It is what it is,” explained Humphrey. “And so to have somebody that says that LMPD is either doing things the right way or they’re addressing it when they’re not doing it the right way.”
One of the big questions asked was if the recommendations from this board are taken seriously. Humphrey says that is a transparency issue that he and the members of his department are working on.
“It’s not that we don’t take the accusations or the recommendations seriously. What we need to do is communicate the actions that we take related to them, or the actions that we don’t, why we don’t take them, related to them, back to the board. So they have an understanding and can communicate that to the community as well,” Humphrey shared.
Mary Spalding spoke to the board to voice her concerns about a complaint that she filed over five years ago and after numerous emails and calls, she says she still has no answers.
“Just to be able to get that acknowledgment, to get my voice heard and get my concerns listened to. That helps me to deal with the process, and the fact that I’ve been fighting and waiting all these years,” said Spalding.
She says she feels better after the meeting that not only did the board hear her but also the police chief. Even though Spalding says she doesn’t have much trust in law enforcement, she believes the interim chief is trustworthy.
“I believe that with the concerns of the board, the fact that I’ve been able to speak one on one with the chief, I’m feeling a little bit more confident that things are going to get done. My situation, as we call it, is going to get addressed,” said Spalding.
Humphrey says he hopes the community sees that they have a police department that’s willing to listen and make corrections.
“They have a police department that is in the midst of making sure that we create a culture of constant improvement. And that’s what this is about is that: how do we improve?” said Humphrey.
Humphrey says he is interested in being chief permanently to create stability in the department, both with the officers and the community.