LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Scottie Scheffler's arrest put Louisville in the worldwide spotlight, but we may never see the event in its entirety.
It should have turned out differently according to the Louisville Metro Police Department's (LMPD) standard operating procedure.
"We understand the seriousness of the failure to capture this interaction, which is why our officer has received corrective action for this policy violation," LMPD Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said at a press conference on Thursday.
The corrective action was detailed in a series of documents the department released. Det. Bryan Gillis, who arrested Scheffler, counseled with one of his commanders and faced a performance observation.
That came after LMPD's internal investigation, which began with a form Gillis filled out for failing to record the arrest with his body camera. Saying why he did not record, Gillis wrote that he arrived before his regular reporting time for the PGA, immediately started directing traffic, and never powered up his body cam.
Gillis's immediate supervisor considered it a policy violation, along with two more officers up LMPD's chain of command.
The division commander ultimately wrote, "while initially a chaotic situation, enough time had passed to at least have [the camera] in standby mode."
"The reason we have body cameras is so that there's confidence in the police," Louisville lawyer Michael "Mike" Abate said. "So the public knows what's happening. And when you have systemic violations of that policy, that just breeds distrust. And if we're not going to enforce the policy, what's the point?"
Abate focuses on constitutional law and government accountability, and he finds the punishment "just a wag of the finger."
Mayor Craig Greenberg also focused on the trust aspect of the controversy.
"After the recent past, activating body worn cameras is critically important for our police department to have evidence and maintain the community's trust and be transparent," he said.
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