Louisville Metro Police Department leaders announced changes to how they’ll communicate with the public when officers shoot someone. The announcement came ahead of the release of body camera footage of a July 25 shooting in which officers killed a man who was experiencing a mental health crisis.
Moving forward, Assistant Chief Emily McKinley said LMPD will no longer hold press conferences every time body camera footage is released to the public. Officials will instead release a curated video of the incident, which will include their narrative of events and an explanation of relevant policies. They’ll also publish the unedited footage.
"This echoes the commitment to transparency and consistency from the mayor and the chief," she said. "All available public information is available in that video, any further questions may be directed to our Public Information Office."
McKinley said press conferences may be held alongside the release of body camera footage when there is a public safety concern, when they need the public’s assistance or when there’s a mass shooting.
She described the new procedures as “enhancing” the department’s transparency efforts, but in practice it will mean less opportunities for reporters to ask direct questions of police officials in the aftermath of a shooting.
This is not the first time LMPD has adopted policy changes that resulted in less information being publicly available following police shootings.
Prior to the killing of Breonna Taylor in 2020, LMPD released body camera footage and information on the involved officers within 24 hours of a shooting. The Kentucky State Police took over the investigations for some time.
Starting in 2024, under Mayor Craig Greenberg’s administration, LMPD took back control over the investigations into shootings by its own officers. And rather than 24 hours, it now takes 10 business days for body camera footage to be released.
At Thursday’s press conference, McKinley said even after that 10-day period police may still need to withhold some information.
“There are still witnesses, both officers and civilians, needing to be interviewed and other evidence awaiting collection or processing,” she said. “It is important to be cautious to not inadvertently release information that may taint future statements or investigations.”
McKinley said LMPD leaders will continue to hold on-scene media briefings shortly after shootings occur where they will share some preliminary information. LMPD will identify the officers involved in a shooting within 72 hours, including their current assignments, department photos and commendation and discipline history.
Investigations of police shootings will continue to be conducted in-house, but LMPD will provide copies of the final investigative report to Kentucky State Police and Louisville’s Office of Inspector General.
Some of LMPD’s policies around police shootings may change again once the city finalizes its reform agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. The agreement, known as a consent decree, will serve as a roadmap for future reforms and compliance will be overseen by a federal judge.
The consent decree negotiations are a result of a nearly two-year-long investigation into LMPD’s policing practices by the DOJ. In a scathing report released last year, the DOJ found LMPD routinely violated residents’ rights, engaged in discriminatory policing and said its leaders failed to properly investigate and discipline officers accused of sexual misconduct and domestic violence.
July shooting shows limits of deflection program
LMPD also released body camera footage Thursday of the police killing of 32-year-old Cuban immigrant Yoel Roberto Napoles-Ravelo in southwest Louisville last month.
On July 25, Napoles-Ravelo called 911 around 9:30 p.m. He told the operator that he wanted to go to the hospital and he was “feeling a little bit bad,” according to audio of the call that was released alongside the footage. The operator attempted to get more information about the emergency for more than three minutes, but Napoles-Ravelo did not speak directly to her. All that can be heard is yelling and background conversations before the call ends abruptly.
When police responded to the home off Eagle Wood Drive, Napoles-Ravelo was clearly agitated. Officers shot and killed him after trying to de-escalate.
At a press conference Thursday afternoon, Assistant Chief Emily McKinley said the call did not qualify for the city’s crisis deflection program, which sends mental health professionals to some calls for service rather than police. She said operators could not determine the “what was occurring” or the “extent of trouble,” because Napoles-Rovelo did not answer any follow-up questions.
“It was also not clear or obvious that this could be a crisis call, nor was it clear the level of danger at the scene,” McKinley said.
Louisville first piloted the crisis deflection program in March 2022, serving residents in one of eight police divisions. It’s since expanded into a county-wide service, operating from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. seven days a week.
Just like before the program was created, 911 operators screen emergency calls to determine the best response. Operators can now forward the call to a crisis triage worker, if the person is determined to be experiencing a mental health crisis.
Triage workers can attempt to de-escalate the situation over the phone or send out a trained team of mental health professionals, known as the mobile crisis response team. That unit can take the person to the hospital or a respite center, or make referrals to other service providers.
According to MetroSafe, triage workers must send the call back to the 911 operator for a police or EMS response when it’s not eligible for deflection. Those situations include:
- Medical emergencies
- Active suicides
- Possession of a firearm, knife or weapon
- Drug overdoses or detox requiring medical attention
- The person is exhibiting violent behavior
- Or another person at the scene has committed a violent crime
In the case of Napoles-Ravelo, the 911 operator did not send the call to a crisis triage worker because he did not answer questions that would have allowed her to assess the situation, police say. Based on the 911 call, it does not appear dispatchers knew Napoles-Ravelo had access to a knife.
Body camera video shows attempts to de-escalate
LMPD officials posted two videos to their Youtube page Thursday night: A 28-minute video including the 911 call and police narrative, and a second video with 22 minutes of unedited body camera footage from Officer Matthew Forbes.
The video shows officers attempted to de-escalate the situation and calm down an agitated Napoles-Ravelo for about 15 minutes before shooting him. The footage also brought clarity to previous statements from LMPD about whether less lethal force was used.
The body camera video shows some officers did deploy tasers and foam baton rounds at Napoles-Ravelo when he approached officers with the knife. But those attempts at using less lethal force happened at the exact same time other officers fired live rounds at Napoles-Ravelo, ultimately killing him.
Forbes was the first LMPD officer to arrive at the home near Valley Station. The unedited footage shows Forbes shining a flashlight at the house when he first gets there as someone quickly closes the front door.
Napoles-Ravelo can then be seen opening the door and the window right beside it. His parents, who are inside the home with him, are pleading with him, in Spanish, to calm down.
Napoles-Ravelo’s sister approaches Forbes from the sidewalk and tells the officer that her brother has been acting erratically and is making her parents nervous. The sister begs Napoles-Ravelo to speak with Forbes through the window screen.
About six minutes after arriving on the scene, Forbes sees through the window that Napoles-Ravelo has picked up a kitchen knife. Forbes draws his gun in response and repeatedly tells the man, in English, to put down the weapon.
Over the next nine minutes, Napoles-Ravelo’s parents walk out of the house and officers try to get Napoles-Ravelo to sit down on a patio chair. Napoles-Ravelo goes inside the house and back onto the patio multiple times. He also picks up and puts down the knife multiple times.
Throughout the encounter Napoles-Ravelo is holding a bible, telling officers “I’m a Christian.” At one point, Forbes says “I am too.”
Officers are unable to get Napoles-Ravelo to sit still for more than a few seconds. About 15 minutes after officers arrived on scene, Napoles-Ravelo suddenly starts walking towards the officers, knife in hand.
Officers respond with a volley of gunfire and less lethal weapon rounds.
LMPD is still conducting a criminal and administrative investigation into the shooting.
