Issue Position: Public Safety

Issue Position

I support our police officers, firefighters, and corrections officers. Our first responders wake up each morning and go to work to keep us safe. And they deserve our support. That is why I have worked to increase their pay during the two terms I have been in Frankfort. That will not only enable us to attract high-quality candidates, but it will also help us keep the good officers that are already on the force. The effort to "Defund the Police" is dangerous, and I will fight against it as hard as I can. With Louisville's homicide rate the highest it has ever been and carjackings and property crime increasing, the effort to defund the police is dangerous. Again, we need more funds for police to attract and retain high-quality officers. With mental health and drug usage being tightly associated with much of our crime, we need to re-think the way to police some situations. To that end, I support funding some form of mental health response rather than have our police respond to everything. I do not have all the answers in this area, and I want to hear the thoughts of my constituents, police officers, and other interested groups to improve the way we police our community. But in all of these discussions, public safety is the top priority.

At the same time, of course we need to hold officers who violate the law while on duty accountable. Recently a former LMPD officer entered a plea agreement for "framing" defendants and for falsifying testimony, at one point even deliberately recording over evidence that would exonerate the defendant. As a result of his criminal official misconduct, several innocent citizens served years in prison. Because the plea agreement the former officer entered did not include prison time, Jefferson Circuit Judge Olu Stevens rejected the plea deal. I commend Judge Stevens for his action.

I also want you to know that I served on the committee that started the Middletown Police Department. We selected the department's first Police Chief and helped put the department on solid ground. After a few short years, the Middletown Police Department is one of the points of pride for Middletown citizens. I talk with residents and business owners all the time about Middletown police, and they are universally complimentary of the department.

Source