LOUISVILLE, Ky. — There's bipartisan support for a piece of legislation both city and state officials believe could curb some of Louisville's staggering gang violence.
Within a month's time, both Democratic Mayor Craig Greenberg and Republican Kentucky lawmakers from Louisville proposed a state wiretapping law, hoping to give investigators more tools to arrest those driving the gang activity.
"Give us the ability to address the gang violence that is the cause of about 30 percent of the homicides that we're seeing in our state," Greenberg said at the Louisville Forum discussion centered around public safety in late October.
A month earlier, State Rep. Jared Bauman (R) of Southwest Jefferson County and several other Republican state lawmakers voiced their intention to "establish a statewide wiretapping statute that allows local and state law enforcement agencies to use wiretaps to investigate gangs."
Democrats and Republicans in Kentucky often don't see eye to eye on measures to improve public safety, but in this case, there's a common goal.
This kind of law would allow narrowly tailored access to someone's phone calls and texts without their permission.
For perspective, WHAS11 talked to St. Matthews Police Chief Barry Wilkerson, who has years of experience in the homicide unit and SWAT in Louisville.
"It's a lot more complex than just a single crime. They're looking at the overall bigger picture, so they can tear this criminal enterprise down," Wilkerson said.
Wilkerson believes a state wiretapping law is "the best tool to use to get the information you need" when investigating gang activity, especially as it relates to gun violence and illegal drug distribution.
But he has his reservations, too. Wilkerson believes it's a good proposal, but only with the proper safeguards.
"It's an invasion of someone's privacy to do this, so you want to make sure that you're going through the proper channels and [that] oversight is there to make sure you have the probable cause and the reasons to invade that privacy," Wilkerson told WHAS11. "I think it's a great tool. Again, it's how we use it and if we don't abuse it."
Wilkerson says the policy would need to be well-restricted and have plenty of oversight, that's including over the judges signing off on the orders themselves.
But for now, it's merely a concept that could turn into legislation come 2024.
Greenberg's proposal does differ a bit compared to that of state lawmakers.
State representatives specifically want Kentucky's attorney general and Louisville prosecutors also to have authority to seek a wiretap order from a judge. That would be for investigations into the most serious felonies like murder or illegal drug distribution.
For state lawmakers, this proposal is just one element to an 18-part public safety plan for this coming budget year. It'll first be presented in committee in December in Frankfort.
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