reflected in the local population.
Earlier that morning, prior to our jail
visit, the class was interacting with a panel
that included the Director of Metro Corrections Mark Bolton and Police Chief Steve
Conrad. We heard numerous stats about the
dramatic rise in violence in our community,
including shootings and murder, as well as
the unrelenting plague of heroin overdoses
that so many of us encountered on our police ride-alongs. We heard about the various
jail programs that were being implemented
to combat these problems.
Then, from the back of the room, Pastor
Tim Findley, Jr., raised his voice in desperation and hit the panelists with a flurry of
very challenging questions.
“Please tell me what is being done to address the fact that the jails are disproportionately full of African-Americans.”
“What can I tell young black boys in West
Louisville that you are doing for them, when
I have to look them in the eye as they tell
me that they have no hope? NO HOPE!”
Mark Bolton raised his voice louder in
response, “I will challenge you back and
say that more is actually being done than
ever before with the limited resources that
we have at our disposal.”
It was intense compared to our other days
together. Everyone was relieved when both
men went on to express their deep respect
for one another, acknowledging that they
are both passionate about their work. I was
heavily impressed by the realization that
both men are sincerely working on the two
opposite sides of a circle of recidivism that
we can’t seem to break.
Since last August, our class has been taken
on a journey and given an insider’s view of
Louisville’s various societal components: education, neighborhoods, non-profits, health
care, media, police divisions, legislative bodies, and judicial processes, ending with a
tour of the jail house which literally holds
hundreds over capacity on a daily basis.
All cities have problems. Louisville is no
different. It’s hard to swallow, but we have
a major uptick in violence and arrests. Last
year we saw the most people killed in Louisville since 1979. Eighty percent of victims
were African-American and 87 percent were
male and those trends are continuing in
2016. Over the last four years alone, 140,000
people have been arrested in our city. Of
those arrested, we see ever increasing rates
of addiction, homelessness and unchecked
mental illness.
As the police chief said, “It's clear we aren’t
going to arrest our way out of this. We have
to do this together. Along the way we’ve let
people down, and we haven’t given people
what they need. It’s going to take families,
churches, police, schools, city government
and non-profits, conflict resolution training.
Stronger foundations need to be set with
kids at younger ages; good after school care.”
Obviously, this is a man who has done
a lot of soul-searching. And, he’s done his
homework. Conrad rattled off the names
of dozens of programs that are doing their
parts to offer various solutions or BandAids. “We have a great community, and it’s
worth fighting for.”
Bolton is a good leader too. He obviously
cares about his staff and inmates. We were
impressed that he has essentially injected a
powerful version of The Healin