Issues

Public Safety

To increase the standard of living for the people of Louisville, we have to insure that the men and women of our fire and police departments have the resources needed to respond to emergencies. 

Instead of reinventing the wheel, we need to find a smarter, more effective way to give our men and women in uniform the tools they need to protect us. 

Since merger, several progressive moves have been made to improve our city’s police force. However, there are areas that can be approved. 

I propose the creation of a Physical Assault Squad.  Sometimes the classification of a crime is a thin line muddled in intent and outcome. The Physical Assault Squad will be a centralized effort, under one commander, to investigate and prevent assaults in Louisville. Our current system handles all assaults at the division level, with little information sharing with other divisions across the city. Combining these efforts into a central location will enable detectives to analyze information across the city, see trends, and prevent future assault cases. 

Also, we will create the Narcotics Division. We have lost traction due to decentralization of narcotics investigation. Divisions are overwhelmed because they are only able to track activities within their respective area. A central, Narcotics Division will allow for problem areas to be targeted and addressed as a county issue, where patterns can be recognized and networks disrupted. This is not an out of sight out of mind issue.  We will clean up our city. Giving our officers the knowledge they need and our narcotic investigators the tools to eliminate this plague is one of the first steps in taking back our streets. 

Our officers are now outfitted with Mobile Data Terminals that allow them to collect information and submit it immediately. Due to budgetary cuts, much of that information goes unanalyzed. Our current analyst is overwhelmed and overworked. 

This problem is 2 fold problem and requires an immediate solution. Instead of purchasing systems not designed for Louisville, we have to develop a Records Management System to meet the specific needs of Louisville Metro. With all of that information submitted and unanalyzed, we need to hire a sufficient number of analysts to process this information, build models from criminal patterns that enable officers to forecast and prevent future criminal activity. A properly staffed Information Technology department and the proper analytical ability, Louisville Metro police will be better informed and prepared to meet the challenges of the community. Centralized intelligence will benefit all of Louisville Metro. 

We must also take preventative measures to discourage crime and provide our community the safest possible living environment. 

We will implement the use of Police Observation Devices (PODs) in high crime areas. These devices have been used with great success by other cities in the region. The PODs that would be used will have the ability to monitor high risk areas, alert officers when a gun is fired, and provide more data for officers to analyze in an effort to prevent future crime. PODs will not replace police presence; it will increase the ability of officers to monitor high-risk neighborhoods. As crime moves, so will the PODs. 

A trained technician will monitor the PODs at all times. 

With the addition of POD technicians and data analysts, we are creating jobs and strengthening the impact of the LMPD. 

Another technology I believe will be instrumental in bettering the quality of life in Louisville will be the installation of Automated Speed Enforcement Devices. I will lobby Frankfort to increase the speed limit to 65 mph in the area between the Gene Snyder and Crittenden Drive, and evaluate other speed limits on major roadways. As part of this speed increase, Automated Speed Enforcement Devices will be put into place to digitally capture and cite speeders at 11 mph over the speed limit. No points will be deducted from the driver’s license, and the penalty will be a flat fee. 

This step will maintain the flow of traffic, reduce speed related accidents in high volume areas, and allow our officers to focus their attention to more important matters. 

I support the Louisville Metro Police Officers being allowed take-home cars with no financial penalty to the officer. Take-home vehicles are better maintained and cared for, and the obvious police presence is beneficial to the surrounding community. 

We need to maintain our air unit. As the 16th largest city in the nation, it is unfathomable that a news station helicopter should be responsible to provide our officers with air support, as has happened recently. We do not have to buy the most expensive helicopter, we can maintain an active air fleet in a fiscally responsible manner and give our men and women on the ground the air support needed to protect this city. 

In the coming years, we will have to address the need of a police training facility. Our officers can no longer conduct adequate driver’s training in the parking lot of Cardinal Stadium. Since the mayor and local councilman sold the Southfield training facility, our officers do not have facilities suitable for drive training or rifle qualifying. Our men and women in uniform are going to Southern Indiana to train. We will have to build a facility here in Louisville Metro, and now is the time to start discussing where.

Fire Department

First and foremost, I do not support the merging of City and Urban fire departments. This is a money grab by the current mayor in an effort to support his spending addiction. These fire departments operate as independent taxing districts and are supported by the communities in which they serve. The people in Highview, Fern Creek, and others understand their needs more than a bureaucrat downtown. Although the concept seems unifying, in the long run, contention and distribution of funding will prove to be the downfall of such a merger. 

We have to reevaluate the emergency needs of the city. We have closed several firehouses due to budget cutbacks, but that has increased response times and provided an additional strain on our fire and EMS responders.  We have to find smart solutions. If we want to grow our city, we cannot cut the budgets of our fire and EMS and expect them to provide faster response times with fewer resources. They do a great job, but Metro Government must provide the pay, staffing, and resources needed to meet the growing demands of our city.