Pegasus Institute

With the bipartisan rejection of an insurance tax hike, Louisville Metro Government must redirect $35 million to pension obligations for the FY20 budget. Because Metro Council rightfully declined to raise taxes, Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Steve Conrad has said LMPD will respond by cutting three recruiting classes and ending ShotSpotter. “We will see bleeding, and unfortunately, it's not figurative," Conrad said. He went on to say that “The things that I guess I've likened the changes in the police department to is a slow train wreck, and that is still an appropriate example of what will occur.” Chief Conrad is right in his assessment that these cuts would be disastrous for publ

The Kentucky House Judiciary committee unanimously passed Senate Bill 57 sponsored by Senator James Higdon on Wednesday. What's in the bill? Senate Bill 57 expands the offenses for which an individuals can seek expungement to include nearly all class D felonies. Violent and sexual offenses, offenses involving a child, and public corruption offenses are still excluded. This is important because certain homicide offenses can be plead down to Class D felonies and will not be eligible for expungement under this bill. Under current law, eligible offenses can be expunged after 5 years crime free upon completion of the sentence. The expanded list of offenses would be expungable after 10 years. Redu

Eight months ago, after meaningful drops in homicides and shootings in Louisville, we first examined the role that self-initiated policing might play in reducing that violence. Self-initiated police activity typically includes things like pedestrian checks, building checks, occupied and unoccupied vehicle checks, foot patrols, and problem solving. One study of a St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department experiment found that hot spots that received self-initiated enforcement experienced a reduction in total firearm violence by 20 percent in the treatment area relative to the control areas. Firearm assaults decreased by about 55 percent relative to the control areas. A more recent review of ex