Good afternoon.

The time is 4 05 p.m.

This is the regular regular meeting of the public safety committee.

I'm your chair Dan Syme.

I'm joined by my vice chair, Councilwoman Tammy Hawkins.

Today I'm also joined by the following committee members Andrew Owen, Jonathan Joseph, Scott Reed is virtual, Marcus Winkler is virtual, Betsy Ruey, and Jenny Mulby Woolridge.

We also have Kevin Bratcher and Khalilbat Sean with us.

Thank you for joining us.

We got everybody.

This is a special safety meeting, and this is where we get to honor our law enforcement agencies, and we're so proud to have you here.

We want to open up this this uh meeting with a word of prayer, and we've asked uh Bishop Stephen Kelsey if he would uh lead us an invocation, please.

It is my honor.

Having served in law enforcement 25 years at LPD, I appreciate this committee, pause and to honor.

Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, we pause today with grateful hearts to honor our first responders, uh police officers, sheriffs, correction officers.

Lord, your word declares in Psalms 46 and 1 that you are our refuge and strength in a present help in trouble.

Lord, protect those who run toward danger when others run away.

Lord give them the carriage when they are afraid.

Wisdom when decisions must be made quickly, strength when they are tired, and compassion when they encounter people who are hurting.

We also pray for their families who share in the sacrifices of their service.

Lord, guard their minds, strengthen their hearts, and grant them peace after the difficult things they see and experience.

May every first responder know that their service matters, their sacrifice are seeing, and their commitment is appreciated.

Lord, cover them as they serve, protect, as they respond, and bring safety to this community.

In your son's name we pray, Amen.

Amen.

If you would, would you remain standing and direct your attention to the flag as we recite the Pledge of Allegiance?

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

To the Republic for which it stands one nation, honor God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you all.

Um just wanted to say a few remarks before we get started.

When I took office several years ago, um, the first thing that I wanted to do was recognize our uh law enforcement agencies, and we went to work and we designated September for law enforcement appreciation month.

Last year we had our first ceremony.

This is our second, and to see you all here makes our heart warm.

We're we're we're so proud to honor you.

Um so many things that we could say, so many thank yous, but uh know that you're in our hearts and in our prayers, and we're constantly doing anything we can to support you and what you're doing to keep us safe in Louisville.

Um we've asked the the mayor's office to uh to bring a few words, and they have sent uh Misty Wright, the general counsel for Mayor uh Craig Greenberg.

Misty, would you come up and say a few words, please?

Good afternoon, everyone.

Thank you for having me.

I am Misty Wright, I'm the mayor's general counsel, and I also lead his community safety efforts.

Um I have worked in public safety for a long time now.

Uh prior to moving back home to Louisville, I was a federal prosecutor in Chicago for nine years.

So I've worked with literally hundreds of law enforcement agents from local, state, and federal uh agencies across the country.

Since coming home last year, I have had the good fortune to work closely with our law enforcement agencies here in Louisville.

And what I have seen deserves our appreciation and recognition here today.

I want to talk about collaboration briefly first.

Public safety does not belong to any one agency.

Here it takes LMPD, it takes other local police departments, sheriff's office, corrections, it takes our prosecutors, our federal partners, it takes city agencies and community partners to get the work done.

And there are so many examples of how this collaboration is going on in our city.

I just want to highlight a couple.

First, through our city's sustained focus improvement strategy, SFI, we have police partnering with city agencies in areas of our city that are the hardest hit by violence to meaningfully change the conditions of those areas.

So you have increased police presence.

You also have clear boarding and vacant lot uh cleanup and graffiti abatement and services and outreach going to those areas, and that has resulted in over 50% decrease in shootings in those areas as of the end of 2025.

In addition, we collaborate as needed to address specific public safety concerns as they arise.

So, for example, along the Bardstown Road corridor this summer when we had public safety issues, the agencies, members of whom are being recognized tonight came together.

Um we had LPD, we had LMDC, Sheriff's Office, and other partners to talk about a comprehensive solution that involves law enforcement strategies, lighting, liaising with business owners, and that materially affected conditions on Bardstown Road.

This kind of thing is happening constantly, and it's happening intentionally, and that's because people care enough to work together and to do the hard work.

And the work of law enforcement is hard.

It involves far more than responding to calls and making arrests.

The work is building community relationships and trust.