'Win-win' or 'smack in the face'? LMPD Wellness Center, new HQ to get $15M+
The Louisville Metro Police Department has taken a big step toward getting its new headquarters and funding for a new training and wellness center.
But in the shadow of the U.S. Department of Justice’s searing report on civil rights violations committed in recent years by the department, not everybody was celebrating.
In a 20-5 vote Thursday night, Louisville Metro Council members voted to approve more than $15 million in American Rescue Plan fund for renovating a new LMPD headquarters planned at 601 W. Chestnut St. and a lease and rent payments for a new wellness center for the department. The members who voted against the move were Tammy Hawkins, Kumar Rashad, Jecorey Arthur, Paula McCraney and Ben Reno-Weber.
Mayor Craig Greenberg first announced the planned investment in early March, pitching it as a push toward “a safer, stronger city with the best trained, trusted and transparent police department in the country.”
Louisville bought the Chestnut Street facility in 2021 for $6.8 million. It used to house AT&T offices, and before that South Central Bell offices. The approved plan will put $14 million toward renovating that building, after $13 million was put into the project last year.
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The wellness center, meanwhile, will be located in St. Joseph inside a building on Presidents Boulevard near Eastern Parkway. The Louisville Metro Police Foundation bought the building from the University of Louisville for $1.5 million, and the city will lease it for $419,000 per year through 2026, when the annual lease will drop to $1.
The facility will provide fitness and recreation equipment for officers and will offer police “mental health assistance they might not otherwise pursue,” the mayor’s office previously said. An additional $500,000 was included for the project in Greenberg’s proposed 2024 budget released Thursday for IT and operating costs.
Interim LMPD Chief Jackie Gwinn-Villaroel has described the facility as a “win-win” for the community, as it would support officers who support neighborhoods. Several council members who have visited the complex said they were impressed with what they’d seen when they spoke at Thursday’s meeting.
The Department of Justice investigation into civil rights violations committed by LMPD and city government from 2016 to 2021, meanwhile, supported investments in mental health and wellness for police, saying the department “should continue to ensure that officers have access to confidential counseling services and continue developing its early warning system to enhance support for officers” in its March report.
Read the report: US DOJ's report on Louisville police: Read the violations and recommended reform
That report, though, was a key reason why several people in the crowd Thursday opposed the project.
Denorver Garrett, who was a common sight at protests over the 2020 killing of Breonna Taylor by LMPD officers, was in the crowd and stormed out at one point after voicing his opposition while one council member was speaking. Garrett, who was charged that September over an incident in which he was punched by a Louisville officer while protesting downtown, said the vote was “a smack in the face to the urban community” and the money could have gone toward better causes.
“We’ve got communities that’s struggling, struggling, struggling,” he said. “They can’t get $10 million? They can’t get $15 million?”
LMPD currently has a budget of over $220 million, with an additional nearly $7 million included in Greenberg’s proposed 2024 budget.
This story may be updated.
Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville Metro Council: Police Wellness Center, HQ projects get 15M+
