Louisville needs stronger oversight of police department, city lawmakers say

Metro Council members are eyeing ways to strengthen independent oversight of Louisville police amid an outcry over the department's contentious traffic-stop practice in high-crime neighborhoods. 

City lawmakers say they may create an office of inspector general or beef up the powers of the existing citizens commission on police accountability to give them more authority, all in an effort to build public trust in the police force.

"The time is now to keep pushing the pendulum of change, to keep changing policy and putting meat on what the citizens have the ability to review," said Councilwoman Jessica Green, D-1st District. 

"People I serve are tired of lip service, showing up and talking, yelling, fussing and begging for someone to see our humanity. I'm not talking anymore. I'm interested in action," Green said. 

The push for new or strengthened methods of overseeing the police department, particularly their internal investigations, comes during a heated discussion across the city about the way officers police high-crime neighborhoods.

City lawmakers Tuesday grilled Chief Steve Conrad over his strategy of using so-called "investigatory" traffic stops to capture drugs or guns, with one Republican councilman calling them an "excuse for stop and frisk."

From Tuesday:Angry council members slam traffic stops as LMPD chief defends their use to fight crime

Conrad has defended traffic stops as important tools for officers to use when looking to crack down on violent crime. And he insists the department doesn't have an aggressive traffic stop policy.

But Council President David James, D-6th, said Wednesday that things like these traffic-stop techniques, whether written or unwritten policy, can have a disparate effect on different communities, and ought to be examined more closely. 

"The current policy for addressing violence in west Louisville by using pretextual traffic stops, and going fishing with a big net in west Louisville to try to catch somebody with drugs or a gun, has a very damning and detrimental effect on the psyche of citizens who live in west Louisville," James said. "As a former police officer, it's frustrating. This isn't how it has to be done."

James envisions a potential inspector general as someone with the authority to examine police operations, like around the current controversy, and internal investigations, free from interference from the police chief or the mayor's office.

And, rather than limiting oversight to use-of-force cases, other council members have suggested broadening the scope to include all internal investigations, or even all complaints made against the department. 

"That's one way we can increase confidence in the police force, and we should all be looking to do that where we can," said Councilman Bill Hollander, D-9th, who favors an independent investigatory body with the power to look at how internal investigations are done for everything in the police department.

J. Alexander, a west Louisville resident, said he feels oversight powers should be extended to any complaint made regarding racial profiling, not limited to shootings.

"Shootings are few and far between, compared to traffic stops that are racial profiling," he said. "We could get racially profiled 10 times today, and there won't be another shooting for a week or two or months, even." 

Council members are still discussing what a proposal might include, but James said he hopes and anticipates legislation on either an office of inspector general or a stronger citizens commission on police accountability in the coming months. 

Much of Metro Council's ire over the controversy around Louisville police's traffic stop practices has been directed at Conrad and Mayor Greg Fischer. It's the continuation of an ongoing dispute between the body and the city's top cop.

Previously:LMPD handcuffed a black teen for a wide turn, then told him to 'quit with the attitude'

City lawmakers issued a no-confidence vote in Conrad in summer 2017, urging Fischer to ask for his resignation and open the selection process. He did not. And only the mayor can hire or fire the police chief. 

Meantime, Councilwoman Paula McCraney, D-7th, a former member of the citizens commission, said she is particularly interested in giving that body more authority "so we can build up the community trust that we so need." 

That watchdog group was launched in 2003 to review fatal and non-fatal police shootings and other instances in which people died because of police action. In 2017, the Courier Journal found that in its 14-year history, it had reviewed more than 70 cases but made recommendations in only five.

An earlier version of civilian oversight with subpoena power and its own investigative staff was passed in 2000 by the old City of Louisville's Board of Alderman. But it was tied up in court after the police union sued and, in 2003, the newly merged city and county government created the current commission. 

Background:If Louisville's police watchdog group is a bulldog that 'cannot bite,' is it relevant?

McCraney said she's interested in giving the commission more authority on the "front end" of the investigations or adjudications, rather than only letting them view closed cases after decisions have been made.

"It serves no purpose for a commission to be established and then have the information given to them after it's been adjudicated," the Democrat said. "At that point, there's no purpose."

"For it to be effective, the board or commission needs to have a seat at the table during the adjudication process," she added.

She's also interested in allowing the commission to review any internal investigations: complaints against an individual officer or the police department.

Shelton McElroy, another west Louisville resident, said he hopes the conversation around traffic-stop practices pivots to evaluating the police force from a lens of racial equity, like examining the racial makeup of the department as compared to the city. 

And when it comes to expanding police oversight powers, he said any new authority without the ability to hold officers accountable for violations "is just window dressing." 

"You don't have any authority and you can't really administer justice if you don't have the power to hold people accountable," McElroy said. 

Naturally, not everyone on council is in unanimous agreement about the form these oversight bodies should take.

Councilman Mark Fox, D-13th, a former police patrol officer and commander, said he's intrigued by the idea of an inspector general who could take a "critical look" at city government operations. But he's unsure whether a citizens review board of volunteers would have the time to get into the weeds.

"It probably needs to be somebody with an investigative background that knows how the nuts and bolts go together," said Fox, who added that he's open to discussing anything.

And, for Councilman James Peden, R-23rd, "the devil's in the details."

He's undecided on what powers an investigatory body should have, but agreed with McCraney's comments during Tuesday's hearing that the current commission isn't strong enough. 

"I don't want them to have prosecutorial ability. I don't think I want them to have subpoena power. But I do want them to have access to every document," Peden said. "I want them to know."

Darcy Costello: 502-582-4834; dcostello@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @dctello. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/darcyc.