Every year on the first Saturday of May, thousands converge on Louisville (KY) to drink mint juleps and bet on the horse that will take home over a million dollars. On May 3, 2008, the second-largest crowd in history watched as Kentucky-bred Big Brown dominated Kentucky Derby 134 at Churchill Downs. Fantastic hats graced a myriad of heads for the Hat Parade. During the Derby, the Infield's festivities rivaled Mardi Gras and Millionaire Row hosted too many celebrities to mention. People from all over the country traveled to see "The Run for the Roses." Louisville Metro Police Department was there to make sure everyone had a fun and safe time.
Originally two agencies, Louisville Metro has eight divisions with 1200 sworn officers serving events like the Derby, as well as patrolling 62.1 miles. In 2002, the City of Louisville and Jefferson County took a vote to merge their law enforcement services. They knew it wouldn't be easy and they needed a chief who could come in and deal with the differences in city and county law enforcement. "You had a city department and a county department and years and years where you had competition between the departments," says Sergeant Barry Denton, commander of recruiting and selection. Chief Robert White was hired and the merger started small with cars and uniforms. The badge was redesigned. "Many officers were scared at first but everyone now will say it's the best thing that's ever happened to us," Denton explains. As part of the merger, civilian personnel became part of Metro Safe handling all government services, including fire, EMS and police. Soon their dispatchers will be working with a new 900MHz radio system.
Priorities
At the completion of the merger, Louisville Metro took on new priorities, one of which was prevention. "When Chief White came into office, he was really big about crime prevention because if you prevent crime you won't have to worry about solving crime," says Denton. "He's come in with some great things. It saves money if the crime never occurs." Another priority was recruiting. "We do about everything," explains Denton. In 2005, the agency began a new recruiting agenda. "We recruit like a major corporation would. We use statistical analysis to see where we want to recruit. We require 60 credit hours or active military service, so we go where the most educated people in the state are. We have a national marketing campaign. We ship our posters to every military base, even overseas. It's important because (the people we hire today) are not only going to be protecting the people today, but our kids and our grandkids."
Academy and incentives
New hires attend a 30-week Monday-through-Friday non-residential academy run by Louisville Metro. Some classes, such as driving, require a trip to the state academy in Richmond. Although the department does hire laterals, everyone is required to go to through the full academy. "We want every one to go through our academy so everyone knows the same thing," explains Denton. "Once they graduate, they get their lateral benefits such as pay." In the academy, a recruit makes $29,000. After graduation, pay increases to $33,000 plus an extra $3,100 in hazardous duty pay from the state.
The department offers many incentives, such as differential pay, tuition reimbursement, and a "25 years and out" retirement program under the state retirement fund. Full retirement benefits vest at just under 27 years of service. Officers carry the Glock 40, Remington 870 and AR 15. Non-lethal weapons include bean bag rounds, TASER and pepperball guns.
Truly Family
Louisville Metro doesn't take an insular view of their officers, but focuses on the well-being of family members, too. The academy hosts a family day. "They go on ride-alongs, so they can see what an officer is involved in. Police work is nothing like what they see on TV." If an officer is involved in a critical incident, the agency helps the whole family as well. "We have a peer support that not only assists that officer but also with that family." Community members and various local organizations, such as the Commanding Officer Association and Shield of Faith, offer officers and their families support during personal situations. "We had an officer recently whose house burned to the ground, and we assisted them."
The Ryder Cup
Although the Kentucky Derby comes to Louisville every year, it isn't the only international event the city has hosted. In September, 2008, Louisville Metro served and protected at the prestigious 37th Ryder Cup held at the Valhalla Golf Club, a 486-acre, Nicklaus-built, award-winning facility. "Whether you're into golf or not, when it's here you don't have a choice," says Denton. Unfortunately, along with the USA and European Teams and their fans, a huge storm descended on the area. "We had a terrible storm come through and knock out about half of the city's power," Denton explains. "To show how great we are, you had officers at home suffering along with their families without power, and I'm not aware of one officer who didn't come to their post and do their job. It was a state of emergency for our city and we pulled through and everything worked out well and we operated to our full capacity. Services were not limited. This spoke volumes about our department."
Specialty Units
Along with special events, Louisville Metro offers officers a wide variety of specialty units. "You name it, we have it," says Denton. The agency has everything from mounted, bike and ATV patrols to air, river and dive teams. Officers can join the hostage negotiation team, bomb squad, dignitary protection unit and honor guard. A joint emergency services unit is trained to handle incidents from terrorism to a passenger arriving at the airport with smallpox. The variety of the agency doesn't stop with the units, but extends to department specialty vehicles. "You name it, we've got the vehicle," states Denton.
Community Partnerships
"Our big thing is forming a lot of partnerships which is very important to us," says Denton. "Several officers are on task forces. We've formed a lot of partnerships with our media." The department offers the media a citizen academy of their own. "Community partnerships are extremely important to the department," he says. Officers can participate in a take home car program. Although the officer must live within Metro government lines the vehicle is not just for work. "Drive it to do whatever you need to do," explains Denton. "Put your family in it and go out." The cars show the officers in a good light to the community while they are off-duty.
From the Derby to a myriad of specialty units, the Louisville Metro Police Department offers their officers a wide variety of experiences. Family members are not just family to the officer but part of the police family as well. And, the agency works in partnership with the community. "It's not about the police department, as much as it is about the city," Denton says. "Even with around one million people, it's a very hometown kind of place. It's a great place to live but it's also a great place to work. You don't see our officers leave and go to other departments. You see other department's officers come to us."
Editor's Note: an earlier version of this article listed Louisville as being in Jackson County, rather than Jefferson County. LawOfficer.com regrets the error.