LMPD hopes to hire college athletes to fill vacancies

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – Louisville Metro Police continue to grapple with more than 250 unfilled positions within the department. Interim Chief Paul Humphrey revealed a new strategy for finding new officers Wednesday.

LMPD hopes recruits will want to trade one uniform for another, and we’re not talking about the armed forces here. LMPD hopes to recruit college athletes into its ranks, starting Wednesday, when Humphrey will notify the UofL athletic director.

“I’ll tell you right now, Josh Heard, you better watch out, because I’m coming for your guys,” he said. “The athletic departments at local colleges need to be on our recruiting trail.”

It’s a new tactic that comes just five days after LMPD’s latest recruiting class produced just nine new officers. The problem, Humphrey said, isn’t the number of applicants, but the number of qualified applicants, people who can pass background checks and physical fitness tests.

Humphrey believes a natural place to look is the athletic departments of local colleges.

“Think about it. There are people who understand how to work in a team,” he said. “They get the hard work. We know they can commit to the process. They need coaching and education. What more can you ask of people? And they are physically fit.”

Humphrey said there is a shortage of more than 250 officers, and LMPD does not have enough people to be proactive in dealing with crime. To fill the vacancies, Humphrey said the recruiting classes need to be five times larger than the last class of nine. Recent pay raises and improved health care for officers have not reversed the downward trend.

I’d like to get into every athletic department at every college – Simmons, Bellarmine, Spalding. We’ve got a job lined up for those guys when they walk out the door.

No one from the athletic departments at UofL, Bellarmine, Simmons and Spalding universities has heard from LMPD about recruiting yet.

One position the department is not trying to fill is the vacancy left by outgoing Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel. Humphrey said there is no search underway for a new chief. A spokesman for the Mayor’s Office said they are still considering all options.

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