Mayor Craig Greenberg announces 'sweeping' investments in LMPD, including recruit bonuses

Mayor Craig Greenberg announced a series of investments Thursday to improve public safety and the long-term "organizational health" of Louisville Metro Police, including the reinstatement of signing and retention bonuses for recruits.

Besides police, the bonuses would go to workers at Metro Corrections, Emergency Medical Services and the city's Emergency Management Agency workers. After Metro Council gave approval during a meeting later Thursday, these bonuses will be reinstated immediately and run through next year. The bonuses were halted at the end of 2022.

The other investments include:

• The purchase of a building by the Metro Police Foundation to serve as the LMPD Wellness Center where officers and staff can receive physical, spiritual and mental health support.

• Using $14 million in federal American Rescue Plan money to expedite the renovation of the new police headquarters in the old AT&T building downtown. The funding is in addition to $13 million directed to the work last year. Completion of the project, which does not yet have a set end date, will put LMPD "under one roof for the first time in a generation," according to Greenberg's administration.

• Creation of a new “anonymous narcotics tip line,” 502-574-2580. The line would be for citizens to report concerns about drugs in their neighborhoods, the administration said, and the current anonymous line for tips about any crime, 502-574-5673, will remain available.

(Metro Council did not, however, sign off Thursday on the immediate use of the ARP money for the other investments related to the new LMPD headquarters and Wellness Center because some members pointed out those uses were not spelled out in the ordinance before them, which means the Greenberg administration must come to the council with a separate ordinance to gain approval.)

"Louisville wants a safer, stronger city with the best trained, trusted and transparent police department in the country. Today, I'm announcing sweeping initiatives to do just that," the mayor said at Metro Hall. "These will improve the culture and health of our police force (and) will also improve the health and safety of our entire city.

"To those who want to see big changes in Louisville, both officers and advocates alike, I want you to know that we hear you and we are moving in a new direction."

Greenberg, a Democrat who took office in January, has pledged to "fully fund" LMPD, which has been short about 300 officers from its stated full staffing level of 1,300 personnel. Greenberg's predecessor, Mayor Greg Fischer, included $210.5 million for LMPD in the current fiscal year's budget, a boost over the department's roughly $185 million in 2022.

The new investment comes as LMPD faces a pending investigation from the U.S. Department of Justice into whether the department, among other things, used unreasonable force, engaged in unconstitutional stops, searches and seizures and discriminated against residents based on race.

For subscribers:Louisville police contract negotiations won't be made public. What to know

Focus on wellness

The LMPD Wellness Center, on Presidents Boulevard near Eastern Parkway, will feature fitness equipment, recreation space and locker rooms. The mayor’s office said it will open by ”mid-year” and serve as a space “that encourages officers to seek mental health assistance they might not otherwise pursue.”

Interim police Chief Jackie Gwinn-Villaroel said the new center is a ”win-win for Louisville” and that ”healthier officers can only help create healthier neighborhoods.”

The Metro Police Foundation bought the building from the University of Louisville for nearly $1.5 million. LMPD will lease the building for $419,000 a year through 2026 for a total of about $1.6 million.

The lease payments will come from federal ARP funds, and after 2026, when the ARP money runs out, the lease rate will drop to $1 per year, according to the mayor’s office.

Maj. Bryan Edelen, who leads LMPD’s performance division, which is part of the relatively new Accountability and Improvement Bureau, said federal policing reports from the Biden, Trump and Obama presidential administrations each stressed ”officer wellness” as needing more attention.

Edelen said the new wellness-focused resources help break down ”the stigma” of seeking help.

“It will show the support. It will show the love,” Edelen said. ”…It’s a whole community that’s making this happen.”

“Fast-track” the LMPD HQ renovations

The city bought the downtown AT&T building, 601 W. Chestnut St., for $6.8 million in 2021 to house LMPD and some other agencies.

The infusion of ARP cash will help ”fast-track” improvements such as a roof replacement, elevator renovation, HVAC upgrades and electrical needs, Greenberg said, adding these changes can start “promptly” while the full scope of renovation work is still being designed.

LMPD early warning system:New system was finally put in place to flag at-risk officers. Does it help?

LMPD staff have been scattered between different buildings as the city renovates the new headquarters and prepares for the eventual demolition of the old HQ by Seventh and Jefferson streets.

Greenberg said having ”a new headquarters and centralized police department will go a long way to ensuring transparency, accountability and improved service to our community.”

Signing and retention bonuses

If the full Metro Council approves a slate of ARP-related spending tweaks, then the city will reinstate the public safety signing and retention bonuses immediately and extend the ability to use them with recruits who sign on by Dec. 31, 2024.

Greenberg said a total of $4.75 million is available in bonuses.

The revised ARP spending schedule, which also relates to initiatives focused on areas like homelessness, allows for half of the bonuses to get paid out upon completion of required training and the other half paid a year later.

Reach Billy Kobin at bkobin@courierjournal.com

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville Mayor Greenberg unveils investments in LMPD, public safety