LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – Louisville has not created a co-responder program despite years of calls to pair police with mental health professionals when responding to people suffering from mental health emergencies.
The Justice Department’s consent decree would have required the city to establish a co-responder program. It found police frequently failed to de-escalate situations where people in crisis had called for help. But the consent decree was never finalized, and the city has still not created the program.
Police seek to avoid repeat of fatal shooting
“Mayor Greenberg has talked about a co-responder model within Louisville. LMPD is open and willing to try anything that helps prevent something like this from ever happening again,” Deputy Chief Emily McKinley said.
McKinley said the department does not want to repeat what happened with Katelyn Hall. Her cousin had called police after Hall locked herself in the bathroom and began to harm herself. Police killed her once the door was broken open and she charged them with a piece of porcelain.
“This is not something that we ever want to experience, we don’t want our officers to experience, we don’t want community or family members to experience this, this is a terrible situation to be in,” McKinley said.
After the consent decree went away, the city established its own plan. But so far, no co-responder program has been created.
“If there’s a co-responder model that could help in a situation like this, could help officers with making decisions or giving some feedback on how to de-escalate or what could be a hook or a trigger for the person behind that door to try and continue a conversation that would be extremely helpful,” McKinley said.
The mayor’s spokesperson said the police and the office of behavioral health are exploring options to respond to these types of emergencies. The spokesperson could not provide a timeline, saying the city is moving with urgency.
Police are still reviewing the circumstances surrounding Katelyn Hall’s death. Both officers involved in the shooting have worked for LMPD since 2023.
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