Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg and LMPD interim police chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel spoke to the CLOUT organization assembly on Monday.
Read MoreMayor Craig Greenberg and interim Louisville Metro Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroe apologized for the past 'abuses of public trust' committed by the city and LMPD.
"It's unacceptable. And it's inexcusable," Greenberg said.
Read MoreCitizens of Louisville Organized and United Together brought together various local leaders, clergy and mayoral candidates at its annual assembly Monday night to push officials to more urgently fight gun violence in the city and improve relationships between police and residents.
During its Nehemiah Action Assembly at St. John Paul II Parish, 3521 Goldsmith Lane, CLOUT sought commitments from Mayor Greg Fischer; Louisville Metro Police Chief Erika Shields; and Metro Council President David James, D-6th District; to launch the “Truth and Transformation” initiative within the next month.
Read MoreLouisville Mayor Greg Fischer and Louisville Metro Police Chief Erika Shields were noticeably absent from a community meeting Monday night to address the rising gun violence.
Citizens of Louisville Organized and United Together hosted its annual action assembly. This year it was called "Victory Over Violence: CLOUT's Strategies to Bring Shalom to Our City'.
Each year the group gathers community members to find out what are the biggest issues affecting the city. Member Larry Grossman said there were 22 research meetings held prior to Monday's assembly. He said crime came up consistently.
Read MoreHello, boosted violence-prevention funding. But goodbye, Synergy Project. Louisville Metro Council signed off Thursday on a fiscal year 2021-22 budget that largely preserves the police and public safety spending proposed by Mayor Greg Fischer — choosing not to cut the embattled Louisville Metro Police’s funding.
The $1.04 billion budget, approved 24-2 Thursday, comes after months of discussion including an engaged public calling for funding changes to public safety following a year of protests and record violent crime.
Read MoreThe slaying of Breonna Taylor and the heated protests that followed directed for months at Louisville Metro Police has built a chasm of distrust between many community members and officers.
The question is: How can the city rebuild that trust? Mayor Greg Fischer and other city leaders are betting a new city project will help provide the cure. Its critics, however, have called the project a “waste of time.”
Read MoreIn June of 2019, nine months before Breonna Taylor was killed, and a year before protesters took to the streets demanding justice in her name, Louisville Metro Government launched the Synergy Project, an effort to address “challenges when it comes to police and community relations,” Mayor Greg Fischer said at the time.
Two years later, those challenges have grown and Fischer is seeking more than half a million dollars to awaken the program from a pandemic-induced slumber. But some local leaders say Synergy is not designed for a post 2020-world and they’re pushing Metro Council to redirect funds toward efforts they said would better accomplish the same goal.
Read MoreTo move forward together, Louisville should prioritize the building of police-community relations. It should begin with confession. In the wake of the civic trauma of the past year, following the killing of Breonna Taylor and its aftermath, both in the streets and in the criminal justice system, we see no way for Louisville to move forward with any sense of unity and momentum toward a more just future unless the city undertakes a deep and broad process of building better police-community relations.
Read MoreIn Louisville, few of us would disagree that our local criminal justice system — police, courts, prosecutors, corrections — does not provide equal justice for all of our citizens. Many of us, in fact, have been victimized by these systems. Some have even lost their lives. Violence — in the form of murders, shootings and police actions — continues to tear apart our community. Historically, and still today, we have been given a false choice between continued violence or overpolicing. Research has proven that overpolicing actually creates more violence. We need a different kind of policing. We need a different kind of criminal justice system. We need different interventions with people in crisis.
Read More“It’s the culture that has to change,” said Rev. Reginald Barnes, CLOUT co-president. “When you get an organization coming to you with suggestions, most folks want to think they can police themselves better than anyone else. They have all the answers. But our research shows there’s a better way. Our police force doesn’t have to be warriors but they can be guardians in our community.”
Read MoreCLOUT (Citizens of Louisville Organized and United Together) held an assembly Oct. 29 where it welcomed St. Leonard Church as a new member and heard about the Louisville Metro Police Department’s plan to de-escalate certain confrontations. The Community Problems Assembly, held at St. John Paul II Church on Goldsmith Lane, drew more than 300 people.
Read MoreFor the first time, language in the operating manual for Louisville Metro Police Department’s professional standards unit will direct internal investigators to consider whether officers tried de-escalation as a way to avoid using force. After months of discussion with city leadership…
Read MoreAt a Community Problems Assembly meeting Tuesday at St. John Paul II Catholic Church, Louisville officials reported progress on several promises made to CLOUT (Citizens of Louisville Organized Together) over the last year. Here are the four issues and what officials had to say about them…
Read MoreHundreds of leaders from around the community gathered to hear from top city officials on the progress being made around four key issues. Citizens of Louisville Organized and United Together, or CLOUT, first met in March when officials committed to changes in schools, housing, addiction treatment and care for seniors.
Read MoreLast week, Louisville Metro Council approved the fiscal year 2020 budget, with no discussion before the vote, with 24 in favor and one opposed. This budget included severe cuts to important programs in our community that will impact the lives of many of our most vulnerable citizens....
Read MoreIt was a crowded auditorium Tuesday night, as hundreds from the organization, CLOUT, offered their solutions for some of Louisville Metro’s most critical problems: affordable housing, mental illness and school safety.
Read MoreWhenever there is a police shooting in our community there is much back-and-forth commentary and disagreement about whether the shooting could have been avoided. When the victim is a person of color, questions and disagreements become even more acute....
Read MoreCenterstone’s The Living Room program helps people with mental health and substance abuse issues avoid jail. But looming city budget cuts could threaten the program’s future less than two years after it opened.
Read MoreA local group is demanding answers from the Louisville Metro Council as funding to certain organizations could be at risk.
The group Citizens of Louisville Organized and United Together, or CLOUT, invited members of the Metro Council to its assembly Tuesday at Memorial Auditorium.
At the event, CLOUT members urged the council to keep funding Louisville's Affordable Housing Trust Fund and The Living Room.
"We're calling on our officials to take bold actions and addressing these problems even during these very difficult financial times," said the Rev. Bill Burks, of St. John Paul II Catholic Church.
Read MoreIn CLOUT’s (Citizens of Louisville Organized and United Together) listening process last fall, involving more than 400 citizens gathering in small house meetings all across the Louisville Metro area, we heard many stories about “senior concerns.”
Representing a diversity of races, income levels, ages and parts of town, those sharing their stories surfaced many common themes. The concerns most voiced had to do with themselves or their loved ones losing their independence and having to leave the places in which they feel most comfortable and happy.
While there are, of course, many older adults who want and need the services of assisted living, nursing care, memory care, etc., the vast majority of older adults would prefer to remain in their own homes as long as possible.
One story we heard…
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