LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) -- Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced Steve Conrad as the city's new police chief Tuesday morning during a news conference at Metro Hall.
“I was looking for someone with wide knowledge of our city and LMPD who could build strong ties within the police force and throughout the community. Steve’s experience and credentials are deep,” Fischer said. “His performance through the various stages of our interview process was outstanding and my in-person interviews in Arizona convinced me that he is the best person for this opportunity.”
Conrad, a Louisville native, currently serves as police chief in Glendale, Ariz. He has 32 years of law enforcement experience and began his career in 1980 with the Louisville Division of Police as a patrol officer in the Portland, Russell, Shawnee and California neighborhoods. He rose through the ranks from detective to sergeant to lieutenant to captain and eventually to assistant chief of the Louisville Metro Police Department from 2003 to 2005. He helped develop the first budget for the newly merged department, and he oversaw the day-to-day administration.
Conrad earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Louisville and attended the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va. in 1994. His first day as Louisville chief is March 19, and his salary is $165,000.
Conrad becomes the first white police chief of the Louisville Metro Police Department. Former Chief Robert White made history after the merger when he was named the firs Metro Police chief in 2003.
Conrad said he was honored and humbled to be chosen to be the second chief of LMPD.
“I couldn’t be more excited about this opportunity to lead the Louisville Metro Police Department,” he said. “It is an incredible organization filled with men and women who are willing to do what it takes to make our community safer. I am truly honored to have the opportunity to work with them again.”
The president of the Louisville chapter of the NAACP said the organization “made sure in conversations with the Fischer administration that diversity was utilized throughout the process.”
“We saw nothing that raised any red flags,” Raoul Cunningham said. “You always want to make progress, but because you did have the first (African American police chief), we never maintained that the next one would have to be African American.”
Cunningham said that the NAACP did not meet with Conrad but that he received high marks from the Arizona NAACP.
Conrad was among 16 people who applied for the chief’s position that included a rigorous review to narrow the list to five finalists. The process, overseen by the Southern Police Institute at the University of Louisville, included:
• Citizen input. Meetings were held by each council member in their district and the police institute used data from those gatherings to develop common community concerns. In addition, a 15-to-20 person panel of criminal justice officials and stakeholders — including the Fraternal Order of Police — was asked for its input.
• Profile position paper. Each applicant was required to submit an extensive paper in which he or she answered questions about leadership, strategic planning, crime control, community policing and involvement, among other things.
• Assessment team. A four-member team screened all applicants and recommended five to the mayor. That team consisted of Deborah Keeling, chair of the Department of Justice Administration at the University of Louisville; Southern Police Institute Assistant Director Cynthia Shain; Mark Bidner, a local CEO identified by the Police Foundation;, the police chief in Arlington, Texas, Therone Bowman; and an assistant chief from Tampa, Florida, Mark Hamlin.
• Mayor’s interview. The mayor – along with Chief Administrative Officer Bill Summers and Chief of Staff Ellen Hesen – interviewed the five finalists.
• In person field interviews in Glendale, Arizona. Conducted by the mayor and Jim Cain, sworn LMPD officer and a member of Mayor Fischer’s security detail.
