Public Safety Committee Meeting - March 21, 2023
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Public Safety Committee Meeting - March 21, 2023
The Public Safety Committee met to consider a resolution for a $200,000 contract with Cure Violence Global and to receive a presentation on the Department of Justice (DOJ) findings report regarding the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD).
Consent Calendar
- R-023-23: Resolution approving a $200,000 noncompetitively negotiated professional service contract with Cure Violence Global for training and technical assistance to alleviate violence. Paul Callanan, Office of Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods, explained it is a one-year continuation of a contract for violence intervention program support, including technical assistance, data collection, and evaluation. The motion by Committee Member Flood, seconded by Committee Member Seum, carried by voice vote, and the resolution was sent to the consent calendar for the April 13, 2023 Metro Council meeting.
Discussion Items
- Department of Justice Findings (ID 23-0367): David Kaplan, Chief of Staff and General Counsel to Mayor Craig Greenberg, presented a summary of the DOJ’s 86-page report issued March 8, 2023. The investigation covered the years 2016 to 2021 and found probable cause that LMPD engages in a pattern or practice of:
- Excessive force (e.g., use of less-lethal force without active resistance, neck restraints, failure to de-escalate)
- Unconstitutional searches (invalid warrants, lack of knocking and announcing, warrantless searches)
- Discriminatory policing (racial disparities: Black drivers stopped at 1.5 times the rate of white drivers, searched at 2.6 times more; 49% greater likelihood of a stop controlling for behavior)
- Unlawful protest response (retaliation against speech, mass arrests without probable cause)
- Americans with Disabilities Act violations (failure to accommodate behavioral health disabilities)
- Deficiencies in supervision, accountability, and the civilian complaint process (only 43 civilian complaints filed in 2020, restrictive filing procedures)
- DOJ issued 36 recommendations (effective 35 after one duplicate), including enhanced use-of-force policies, improved warrant oversight, expanded crisis intervention teams, civilian complaint reform, and police facility/wellness improvements.
- Kaplan stated the mayor has entered an agreement in principle with DOJ to negotiate a consent decree. DOJ will hold community meetings the week of April 10. Kaplan noted that the Metro Council can take action on some recommendations, such as ordinances regarding protest permits and civilian complaint acceptance.
- Committee members raised questions and concerns:
- Vice Chair Reed questioned the lack of specific metrics and measurable benchmarks in the report.
- Council Member Hudson expressed concern that DOJ is withholding underlying data, making it difficult to understand and solve problems.
- Council Member Rashad asked about the role of the interim police chief and whether the collective bargaining agreement could be used to implement reforms. He also highlighted socioeconomic disparities noted in the report and stressed the need to address root causes.
- Council Member Hawkins demanded accountability, asking whether officers involved in misconduct are still employed and emphasizing the need for transparency.
- Council Member Baker questioned spending ARP funds on police headquarters and wellness center before DOJ negotiations are complete, urging community engagement in funding decisions.
- Council Member Seum sought clarification on how criminal findings would be referred, though Kaplan noted the DOJ investigation is civil.
- Chair Ackerson stated he views the consent decree and independent monitor as positive steps and expects the administration to have concrete answers in four to five months.
Key Outcomes
- R-023-23 was recommended for approval and placed on the consent calendar for the April 13, 2023 Metro Council meeting.
- The DOJ findings presentation was for informational purposes; no vote was taken.
- Chair Ackerson encouraged council members to work on ordinance changes related to protest permits and civilian complaints.
- The meeting adjourned at 6:37 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
They're actually there for to help me. I'm excited. We are on the way to home ownership. I think this is going to be an awesome program for the city of Louisville. And you've you've come a long way in a short period of time, so I'm really excited about it. So if you've ever come to one of our recycling drop-off sites, you know that those dumpsters are often very full and overflowing, but we are slowly converting them. We're in the parking lot of the Cyril Augier Community Center, and this is our first location that has made the switch. So having these smaller dumpsters that can be emptied on site will keep them from overflowing so easily. The larger dumpsters used to have to be put onto a truck and driven all the way to the recycling center, then emptied and then brought back. And our goal is to have a cleaner and safer environment for our residents that use these. First up, wastewater treatment. This is the water we send down the drain from sinks, showers, tubs, and toilets. I'm sure we'll have more opportunities to add some questions. Yeah, I know it's really their thing. But anyway. Hey, Jeff, you are right. This is the regularly scheduled public safety committee meeting. Uh in attendance today, we have Councilman Hudson, Councilman Owen, Councilman Syme, Councilman Rashad, and Councilman Flood, my co-chair, and myself. And uh virtually, it appears that Council new councilman. Oh, there he is, cameras on, and Councilman Reno Weber is also in attendance. Madam Clerk, will you read the disclaimer? This meeting is being held pursuant to KRS 61.6826 in Councilbill 58. Renfall. All right, folks, uh, real quickly, we're going to deal with uh a resolution and then move into our special discussion. So item number one is R-023-23, a resolution pursuant to the Capitol and operating budget ordinances approving the appropriation to fund the following non-competitive negotiated professional service contract for the office for safe and healthy neighborhoods concerning training and technical assistance to help alleviate violence in Metro Louisville. And uh is there a motion? Second. Items properly before us. You're here to speak to this? Yes, yourself for the record. You have the floor, sir. Paul Cowan and the director for the Office for Safe and Healthy Uh Neighborhoods. Good evening, Councilman Ackerson and Council members. Uh this this contract is for a sole source contract to cure violence global to continue to provide technical assistance and data collection and evaluation for our community violence intervention projects. Uh it is a sole source, the amount of 200,000. It's a one-year contract. It will be a continuation from last year, which they did uh have a separate contract for $200,000 last year as well, too. The contract includes full technical assistance, which which involves helping our sites that were selected to implement the violence interruption program, hire their staff. There's a special process that has to go through. We are hiring the right people, uh preparing the organization's ongoing levels of training for management staff, data collection training, and then in addition, uh Cure Violence maintains the database for this program. So all sites upload their data related to this program, their evaluation data to one site that's housed with um Cure Violence, and then they're able to calculate, put all that data together and send a report back to us. Why their sole source is that they are the designers, the original designers of the violence intervention project. Cure Violence uh is the is the number one violence intervention project in the country using violence interrupters. They are the experts in that field. Uh these sites and these programs were funded under ARP funds that were allocated at the end of 2021 and part of that agreement that we have a council at that time, as there were some concerns about the effectiveness of these programs that we would directly contract with cure violence to provide that assurance that all of our sites are following the fidelity of the model in order to maximize success uh of the program. Any questions or concerns. See no one in the queue. This is a resolution that requires a voice vote. All so in favor say aye. Aye.
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