“Our credibility is important,” said Police Chief Steve Conrad about the Louisville Metro Police Department, referring to a new policy which penalizes (up to and including termination) officers who are found to be untruthful.
That’s right, folks, LMPD is just now starting to address law enforcement personnel who lie. It is shocking that a police organization that has been around since the 1800s has just now seen a need to put in place and enforce a policy dictating that officers can not lie. But obviously such a policy is needed, as is evidenced by recent incidents of misconduct by officers (not only lying, but hiding/destroying evidence, falsifying time sheets, and requests for sexual favors, among other allegations).
LMPD has released a list of 26 officers who have had a sustained finding or credible allegation of untruthfulness or bias, criminal charges brought against them, and/or have failed to disclose any evidence that points toward a defendant’s innocence. 26 seems like a lot to me, especially when the Department is self-reporting, and there are undoubtedly additional officers that are engaging in bad behavior that just haven’t been caught.
No matter how professional and thorough and honest a police force may be, there have always been rogue bad apples here and there throughout history. Dirty cops have always existed, though I would like to believe they are the exception and not the rule. I hope that this is not an institutional problem within LMPD, and if it is, I’m rooting for Chief Conrad to fix it.
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