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Credit: Louisville Metro Police
Two Louisville Metro Department of Corrections Probationary Officers were terminated on Monday, April 24, after being found in violation of the department’s Use of Force Policy.
Corrections Officers David Schwartz, 47, and Devan Edwards, 21, both hired on Sept. 8, 2017, were found to have used excessive and unnecessary force on a Metro inmate who they say failed to follow their directions in an incident on April 15.
After viewing body camera video of the incident, Corrections Director Mark Bolton made the decision to immediately terminate the two officers, who did not have contractual rights because they were under probationary employment.
“We conduct background checks, psychological tests, polygraphs, and we train our corrections officers for nine weeks to the best corrections training standards in the country, followed by a field training period with seasoned corrections officers lasting three additional weeks,” Bolton said. What I saw on that video is disturbing and is not reflective of what we expect from our staff.”
The 19-year-old inmate was cleared by the department’s medical staff, suffered no apparent serious injuries and continues to be monitored by the jail’s health care team.
Bolton said the incident has been turned over for review by Louisville Metro Police, as well as an internal investigation by the department’s Public Integrity Unit.
A review of theft from automobiles, stolen vehicles and burglaries in the Highlands for the first quarter of 2018 shows that 34.4% of the crimes committed (55 of 160) were easy targets because the doors were left unlocked, keys were left inside or otherwise made available to thieves, according to Councilman Brandon Coan (D-8).
Councilman Coan strongly urges citizens to lock their vehicles and buildings and take their valuables out of their cars as part of a new campaign called #KeepLouisvilleLocked.
“The failure to lock your doors and take your valuables out of your car not only inflates the crime rate, it gives your neighborhood a reputation as an easy target which, in turn, attracts more crime,” Coan said. “Please do your part and park smart.”
Coan is partnering with the Louisville Metro Police Fifth Division, Louisville Parks and Recreation and others to reduce crime of opportunity in District 8. He tracks “unlocked” crimes in his bi-weekly newsletter and intends to report out the statistics to local media outlets and community stakeholders on a quarterly basis.
To receive District 8 eNews, go to: https://louisvilleky.gov/government/metro-council-district-8/subscribe-s…
For more information about #KeepLouisvilleLocked, contact Councilman Coan’s office at 574-1108.
Councilwoman Cheri Bryant Hamilton (D-5) will host a special ceremony for the unveiling of an honorary street sign in memory of Officer Nick Rodman who died in the line of duty in 2017.
“We will honor his service and dedication to the people of Metro Louisville with signs at the very place where he served; the LMPD First Division Police Station,” says Hamilton. “We continue to mourn his passing. He left us too soon in life and he was an example for all of us for his dedication to public safety.”
The Councilwoman will be joined by President David James (D-6), Councilman Vitalis Lanshima (D-21), Mayor Greg Fischer and LMPD Police Chief Steve Conrad at the ceremony.
“Our city mourns the loss of Officer Rodman, who gave his life to protect ours, and for that we are all eternally grateful. I ask the citizens of Louisville to take a moment and pause to say a prayer for our police officers as they serve and protect a great city every day,” says President James.
“Every day police officers step out, they understand the dangers and responsibilities of their calling. Officer Nick Rodman understood this, yet he did not hesitate when he heard the call over the radio. He responded with courage in service of this community. He made the ultimate sacrifice – a sacrifice that many of us will never contemplate,” says Councilman Lanshima.
Officer Rodman left behind his wife Ashley, his children Mason and Ellie, his parents George and Linda, his siblings Andy and Carly as many friends and colleagues. He followed in his father and brother’s footsteps by becoming a LMPD officer in 2013.
The ceremony is being on the same date when he lost his life one year ago. He was murdered when the suspect intentionally crashed his vehicle into Officer Rodman’s patrol vehicle as Officer Rodman was trying to pursue him. He was 30 years old at the time of his death.
He was a native of Louisville and an outstanding student and athlete at Holy Cross High School where he graduated with a 4.0 GPA and held the honor of being an All District, All-Region football player and All-Star soccer player. He continued his education and successes at Georgetown College where he graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology and served as the vice president of his fraternity, Pi Kappa Alpha.
Three honorary street signs will be placed in the following locations; the corner of North 29th Street and Griffiths Avenue, the corner of
North 29th Street and Garfield Avenue, and directly in front of the LMPD 1st Division Police Station on 416 North 29th Street.
The signs will be designated as “Officer Nick Rodman Way.”
The unveiling ceremony will take place in front of the LMPD First Division Station on Thursday, March 29th beginning at 4:00pm.
Council members Mary C. Woolridge (D-3) and Marianne Butler (D-15) along with President David James (D-6) invite the residents to a special meeting concerning safety at William Harrison Park.
“On January 20th, there was a horrible accident at the park and three children were injured by a truck while playing there,” says Woolridge. “We are asking the community to come together and help us make sure this park is safe and this kind of thing never happens again.”
“Parents and children utilize parks to have fun and carefree days; worrying about someone driving into the park should not even enter their mind,” said Butler. “We will work together to come up with a resolution.”
William Harrison Park is located at 3232 Oleanda Avenue and it is where the three Council District come together.
“It’s important that we meet to inform the community what safety improvements we are looking at in order to prevent another horrible tragedy,” says President James.
The three Council members will be meeting with the Terry – Berry Neighborhood Association at The South Louisville Community Center, 2911 Taylor Boulevard beginning at 7:00pm on Tuesday, February 6th.
Metro Public Works, Metro Parks, and LMPD have also been invited to attend this meeting. The main topic of discussion: options to make it safer for children playing in the park.
Credit: Louisville Metro Police
Louisville Metro Government announced that it is beginning the process of exploring alternative locations for the Louisville Metro Police Impound lot.
The lot, located for at least 50 years at 1478 Frankfort Ave. in Butchertown, serves as the main temporary storage area for cars towed from throughout the city, and as a longer-term storage area for cars being held as evidence in a legal proceeding. It holds about 1,800 vehicles at full capacity, but frequently stores in excess of 2,000 vehicles.
The impound lot’s current location, bordering the Butchertown Greenway Trail and the main stem of the Beargrass Creek, is less than ideal for many reasons, said Theresa Zawacki, Senior Policy Advisor to Louisville Forward.
“Historic site management practices, including parking cars on gravel surfaces, have contributed to environmental concerns about contaminated soil and runoff into the adjacent Beargrass Creek,” Zawacki said. “Part of the site is located within the 100-year floodplain. And it is additionally complicated by a high tension power line that crosses it, and its historic use as a landfill.”
The lot is in the middle of an existing network of greenway trails that provide access to Waterfront Park, the future Waterfront Botanical Gardens, and a future soccer stadium district. And a number of community groups have advocated for the connection and enhancement of these trails to provide transportation and recreation options for cyclists and pedestrians.
“On behalf of the 25 organizations and numerous individuals who have been involved in conversations about preserving Beargrass Creek, we are pleased to work with Mayor Fischer’s office to address the problems of the Police Vehicle Impound Lot and its impact on our environment,” said David Wicks, community advocate for Beargrass Creek. “We are optimistic that the removal of the towed cars from the floodplain and planting trees and other vegetation will not only help make our city more resilient to future floods, but will help address the past 50 years of parking wrecked and towed cars to this location. We stand ready to help the city implement a new solution for the impound lot, and are hopeful that it will lead to the implementation of plans for the preservation and restoration of Beargrass Creek.”
Councilman Bill Hollander, whose district includes the lot, agreed that, “There are better locations for a lot that stores vehicles leaking fluids than on a hillside that adjoins and drains into Beargrass Creek.” And he added that, “Space limitations at the current site are preventing us from towing abandoned cars from Metro streets. I am very pleased to see the beginning stages of a plan to better treat the environment and serve our citizens.”
Metro will begin a two-pronged process of soliciting ideas for alternative locations for the impound lot in January 2018, starting with issuing a request for information seeking properties that fit the city’s search criteria for size, location and other physical and operational requirements. The second prong of this process will include public meetings where city officials can share information about its needs for the impound lot, and gather community feedback on potential locations and innovative ideas that could lead to alternative designs or management practices for the impound lot.
People will be invited to share that feedback online, as well as in person. Louisville Metro Government then would evaluate all ideas provided through spring 2018, with a goal of identifying a new location for the impound lot by mid-2018.
The city also will use this process as an opportunity to explore additional opportunities to protect and conserve sections of Beargrass Creek that it controls and to encourage other landowners along the creek to consider similar measures. And the city is investigating planting trees and native grasses to control runoff and prevent sedimentation into the creek, and will continue to conduct semi-annual testing of water that drains to the creek from the lot.
These steps are in keeping with the 2016 Beargrass Creek Trail Conceptual Shared Use Path & Ecological Restoration Plan, a joint project of Louisville Metro Parks and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which focused on Beargrass Creek from its confluence with the Ohio River to the area of the Grinstead Drive/Lexington Road intersection.
LMPD endorse the plan to move the lot, said assistant chief, Lt. Col. Robert Schroeder.
“Conditions and space limitations at this aging lot facility make providing top-notch service to the public a challenge,” Schroeder said. “We look forward to finding a new location for the lot that will hopefully make it more accessible to the public, better suited to the volume of cars we deal with, and a more pleasant place for our employees to work.”
The impound lot requires at least 15 acres of flat land, most of which will be paved for parking towed vehicles. The impound lot must have 24-hour controlled access and a small building for LMPD staff to use for public service and administrative purposes.
The practice of impounding towed vehicles is governed by Chapter 82 of the Kentucky Revised Statutes, which places limits on the imposition of towing, handling and storage charges on impounded vehicles and creates a process for appealing the validity of an impoundment.
Credit: Louisville Metro Police
Chief Steve Conrad appeared before the Louisville Metro Council Public Safety Committee last week to update the work his officers are doing to combat crime in Louisville.
Though there are still a few more weeks in 2017, the Chief said his team is encouraged by decreases in most crime reporting categories for the year, which indicate that department strategies are having an impact.
Chief Conrad highlighted data that all police departments provide the FBI for the Uniform Crime Report, which shows decreases in most crime categories in Louisville through October, the most recent month available.
“The numbers I am reporting today speak to a strategy that is working,” the Chief said. “I share these numbers as an indicator of progress, as well as recognition that there is still a lot of work to be done.”
Through October, overall violent crime was down 2.25 percent; compared to being up 9.8 percent at this time last year. Property crime was down 5.37 percent, compared with it being up more than 6.4 percent last year. And total crime was down nearly 5 percent, when it was up 6.9 percent through October 2016.
Despite that progress, the Chief acknowledged “we continue to have a disturbing number of homicides,” which “is a serious issue and continues to be a concern for me and all the men and women of LMPD, as it is for the larger community.”
To date, there have been 101 homicides in Louisville Metro. While that is down 8 percent from the 110 at this time last year, the Chief said, even one life lost is too many, and there is still much work to do – and much work being done.
He outlined several crime-fighting strategies that are having an impact:
- A reorganization of the Narcotics Unit has resulted in felony arrests up more than 46 percent; search warrants up 216 percent; the amount of heroin seized up 99 percent; and the number of firearms seized up 192 percent.
- The LMIntel task force, which is a joint effort of LMPD and several federal partners, has made dozens of felony arrests, seized several firearms and recently announced a 40-count federal indictment aimed at members of a violent gang.
- The 9th Mobile Division continues to target high crime areas and specific people involved in violent crime. To date, the division is responsible for 849 felony charges and has seized 604 guns in 2017. Of the guns seized by 9th Mobile officers, 51 percent were taken from convicted felons.
- The Real Time Crime Center’s impact is growing as it provides valuable intelligence to investigations throughout the metro area.
- ShotSpotter, technology used to detect gunfire in certain areas, is helping to get officers to scenes quicker, often before a 911 call can be made.
In his comments about those efforts and others, Chief Conrad praised the hardworking men and women of LMPD, saying they “are working very, very hard to make Louisville a safer city.”
“I am extremely proud of this department and the efforts we’ve seen this year,” he said, adding that his team is committed to continuing to work with other Metro agencies, Metro Council and community partners to further reduce crime.
Credit: Louisville Metro Police
It’s a Christmas tradition that brings smiles to the children of Portland and 1st Division service area every year. On Saturday, December 9th the 1st Division Police Auxiliary will host children and their families at their 42nd Annual Christmas Party.
“This is a special time of year for children in our area and every year the 1st Division Police Auxiliary works to make sure the children of this area have a special Christmas,” says Councilwoman Cheri Bryant Hamilton (D-5). “I am proud to be a sponsor of this event and I thank the Auxiliary for its dedication to the children of our area.”
The event is set for the Molly Leonard Community Center at 640 North 27th Street from 11:00am to 3:00pm.
Hamilton is joined by Council members Barbara Sexton Smith (D-4) and David James (D-6) as sponsors of the event.
“This is a wonderful community event where volunteers, auxiliary members, and LMPD Officers work to help families in our area,” says Sexton Smith.
“Every child should have a wonderful Christmas and every year the children of West Louisville are treated to a great spirit of giving in our community,” says James.
The 42nd Annual Christmas Party is for children aged ten and under. Last year the 1st Division Police Auxiliary was able to help over 300 children have a special holiday season. Every Child will have a chance to visit Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus and will receive a toy, fruit, candy, toboggan and gloves.
For more information about the event, call 502-574-7167.
