LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville Metro Police leaders said they're making strides toward becoming a more equitable and diverse department, but admit they haven't met all of their goals.
During an update to Metro Council members Thursday night, the department's equity and diversity manager said they had a goal to increase minority hiring by 10% in the last fiscal year.
While they did see an increase in Hispanic hiring from 5% to 14%, there was not a significant increase in African-American and women hires.
To change that, Maj. Emily McKinley said they've implemented new recruiting efforts, like billboards and social media ads, but must first change their reputation.
"I think the first thing that we as a police department need to do is work on re-imaging ourselves within the community," she said. "I think that is definitely in the works and we've seen that within the past year with the Hilliard Heintz and all the reforms and improvements we've made throughout our police department."
One goal leaders said they have accomplished is facilitating monthly discussions on policing and race.
They've already trained 517 command staff and patrol officers through their Truth & Transformation initiative, and plan to hold more sessions throughout the year.
That's in addition to upcoming listening sessions with the public.
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