Louisville mayor announces members of commission aimed at helping reduce crime

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg announced on Thursday the people who will form the new Community Safety Commission. The commission is part of the mayor’s Safe Louisville plan, which aims to reduce shootings and homicides in Louisville by 15 percent each year.

The commission will focus on two areas. First, members will work to improve public safety by weighing in on strategies to reduce violent crime. Also, they will oversee ongoing police reform at the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) as spelled out in the Community Commitment: Louisville’s Consent Decree.

“What’s different about this is that we’re bringing together people in a public setting that can really have the important conversations that we all know we need to continue having in our community,” Mayor Greenberg said.

Mayor Greenberg said about 200 people applied to be part of the Community Safety Commission, but ultimately, 24 were selected. The group is comprised of citizens, community organizations, and local politicians.

Among those selected is Angela Johnson, a pastor at Grace-Hope Presbyterian Church and co-chair of the Citizens of Louisville Organized and United Together (CLOUT)’s Community Safety and Equity Committee. She told WAVE News the group has been vocal about the need for police reform for years.

“We’ve been through a process of ways to try to call attention to the fact of things that were going on with LMPD and the unfair treatment of citizens,” she pointed out.

Johnson said she is excited that she now gets to take that message to the Community Safety Commission.

“Everybody should not be afraid of the police,” she added. “We just think community-based policing would go a long way, even deterring crime here in Louisville.”

Johnson applauded the diversity of the commission. The members represent all of the metro’s police divisions, with ages ranging from people in their 20s to a 92-year-old woman, civil rights leader Mattie Jones.

Joining Johnson and Jones in the commission is David Lopez with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He said it was important for him to see the Latin-Hispanic community represented in conversations regarding public safety.

“We are approximately 250,000 Latin-Hispanic people in Kentucky, so when we have a portion of the population that’s that big and growing that rapidly, you absolutely want to make sure that their voices are being considered as we decide how we take care of safety in greater Louisville,” he explained.

Lopez pointed out that the Latin-Hispanic community has grown by 247 percent in the state of Kentucky between the years 2000 and 2020. He told WAVE News he’s already working with other commission members about how police can better serve this community in Louisville.

“Myself and another member of the Latin-Hispanic community that’s also in the commission were bringing up the concept of language access and how language access actually impacts safety,” he mentioned. “If you’re sitting at home, something’s happening in your community, you’re thinking about calling LMPD, but you’re not sure you’re going to be able to speak in Spanish, for example, you may actually hold off on making that call.”

LMPD Chief Paul Humphrey said he is looking forward to collaborating with the Community Safety Commission once they start meeting in the upcoming weeks.

“Ideas become plans and plans only function when they have the friction of challenge before they’re executed,” he explained. “This gives us the opportunity to have ideas, formulate plans of how to execute them, go back and forth with people who care deeply about our community, and make sure that those plans are then executed.”

The 24 members of the Community Safety Commission are:

• Rose Smith, Executive Director, ACE Project

• Kungu Njuguna, Policy Strategist, ACLU of Kentucky

• Gary Friedman, Chief Executive Officer, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kentuckiana

• Zenebia Law, Vice President of Programs, Center for Women and Families

• Rev. Dr. Angela Johnson, Co-President, Citizens of Louisville Organized and United Together (CLOUT)

• David Lopez, Advisory Board Member, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

• Jessica Brown, Injury Prevention Manager, University of Louisville Hospital J. David Richardson Trauma Center

• Freddie Brown, Vice President of Diversity, Inclusion, Global Perspective & District Executive Director, YMCA of Greater Louisville

• David Grise, LMPD Division 1, Retired Federal Prosecutor, Diplomat, and College Professor

• Mattie Jones, LMPD Division 2, Civil Rights Leader

• Madison Mobus, LMPD Division 3, Substitute Teacher, Jefferson County Public Schools

• Keturah Herron, LMPD Division 4, Kentucky State Senator for District 35

• Jack Will, LMPD Division 5, Jefferson County League of Cities Executive Director

• Scott Huber, LMPD Division 6, Thorntons Customer Service Representative

• Angei Varona, LMPD Division 7, Social Worker, Endeavors

• Rene Brown, LMPD Division 8, CEO, RCB Health Corporation

• Joni Jenkins, Home Rules City, Senior Advisor to U.S. Representative Morgan McGarvey

• Gerina Whethers, Jefferson County Commonwealth’s Attorney, Jefferson County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office

• Mike O’Connell, Jefferson County Attorney, Jefferson County Attorney’s Office

• Amy Hannah, Louisville Region Trial Branch Manager, Department of Public Advocacy-Jefferson County Office

• Randy White, Commissioner, Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice

• Judge McKay Chauvin, Jefferson County Court Administrator, Jefferson County Court System

• Barbara Shanklin, Louisville Metro Council, District 2

• Misty Wright, Executive Director for Community Safety, Louisville Mayor’s Office