LMPD chief: Restoring police funding shouldn't come at expense of violence 'interrupters'

The Louisville Metro Police chief is defending the city's embattled violence "interrupter" initiative, saying Thursday he wouldn't fully fund police if it was at the program's expense.

So-called interrupters are paid by the city to respond when violence breaks out and, where possible, intervene in situations before it happens, by using their connections and credibility on the streets. But the program has run into controversy following one interrupter's arrest and news of some difficulties managing finances. 

During a Thursday hearing on the police budget, LMPD Chief Steve Conrad was asked if he would restore funding to the police department if it meant cutting the budget for the Office for Safe & Healthy Neighborhoods, which oversees the Cure Violence interrupters program. 

"I would not," he responded. "... While there are issues with, and questions about some things that might be happening with Cure Violence and there are issues and questions with things that might be happening at the police department, both are working hard. Both are trying to do a good job. I think Cure Violence is actually getting up and running."

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He went on to say that police and interrupters have different approaches to addressing violent crime in the community, but that both were valuable. While a police officer might make an arrest, an interrupter might be able to relate to a young person and potentially influence them to change their behavior.

"That man or woman wearing this uniform can only do so much. And this person wearing street clothes that comes from a different background, with a past that gives them some credibility, may truly influence somebody that identifies with them to do something different," Conrad said.

Conrad said at the Thursday Metro Council budget committee meeting that he expected to lose a net 59 officers over the next fiscal year, taking into account average departures, as well as the two police recruit classes moving forward and the one that was canceled. 

Metro Council members are going through Mayor Greg Fischer's budget ahead of an expected vote on June 25. The proposal includes $25.5 million in cuts across departments, driven by what was a $35 million shortfall largely caused by rising pension costs and the council's rejection of a proposed tax increase to plug the hole.

Conrad's defense of the Cure Violence program comes a week after it was revealed that the interrupter hiring practices had not been taking place as spelled out in the city's contract, which mandates no candidates be offered employment "without prior consultation with Metro Government and law enforcement," and describes an interview panel that includes a police officer. 

The director of the office said previously that officials were working to improve that process and that officers would be included on future panels.

It also comes a week after University of Louisville Hospital confirmed it had ended its partnership with No More Red Dots, which makes up much of the city's interrupter staff, and after the city said it had suspended its payments to that program amid "non-compliance" with some financial documentation requirements.

Council members have expressed doubt about the program's management, oversight and effectiveness, and some questioned Conrad about the value of interrupters over things getting slashed in the police budget, like the gunshot detection technology ShotSpotter.

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He answered that question by saying the community desperately needed both, then added: "Interrupters, properly trained and working as they are supposed to, have the potential to change the lives of young people in our community and make them safer."

That opinion goes against the view of the union representing Louisville Metro Police officers, president Nicolai Jilek said, adding that the FOP unanimously doesn't support the interrupter program as it exists now, if at all. 

"I don't understand how he's such a strong supporter of a program with such a conflicted track record, with obvious lapses in oversight and management, where they hire criminals to do work," Jilek said. 

"... Under a different budget, that's one thing, but it's coming at the expense and the cost of proven, trained police officers that provide proven, known public safety," he added.

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