LMPD officer protesting outside babybutchershop will NOT be disciplined.
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https://www.wlky.com/article/letter-explains-why-lmpd-officer-seen-protesting-outside-abortion-clinic-will-not-be-disciplined/36844650Letter explains why LMPD officer seen protesting outside abortion clinic will not be disciplined
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WLKYUpdated: 3:25 PM EDT Jun 25, 2021
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WLKY Digital Team
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. —
The Louisville Metro Police Department has released a letter from the police chief explaining why an officer will not face any discipline after he was found demonstrating outside an abortion clinic downtown.
On Wednesday, the officer's attorney who works with the Thomas More Society confirmed to WLKY that his client would be returning to work after he was placed on administrative leave while an internal investigation was conducted.
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The incident took place during the early-morning hours on Feb. 20, 2021, at the EMW Women's Surgical Center, which has been a spot for anti-abortion demonstrations. Those at the clinic said the officer, who was off duty, was wearing his uniform and gun during the protest.
LMPD police Chief Erika Shields confirmed in her closing letter in the Professional Standards Unit investigation into the officer's actions that he was in fact in full uniform. The police chief said the officer "did attempt to cover it up."
Attorney: LMPD officer seen outside Louisville abortion clinic will not be disciplined
The PSU investigation was recently completed and sent to Shields who reviewed the case and made her final determination regarding the officer's actions.
"From these facts, it is not disputed that you arrived at the EMW Women's Clinic on Feb. 20 and participated in protest activity," Shields wrote. "This clinic is an abortion provider and has been the site of years of protest activity."
The police chief went on to explain why the officer would not face any discipline, first because he attempted to conceal his uniform, and second, because the police department had not been consistently enforcing one of its operating procedures regarding officers and their involvement in "political or religious controversies or prejudices while wearing their uniform."
According to one of the police department's policies, officers are prohibited from fostering or promoting such actions because a "public employer is allowed to place reasonable time, place and manner restrictions on its employees and to maintain its own interests in promoting the efficiencies of services it provides to the public."
Shields explains that because the police department itself has not been enforcing the policies, the alleged violations against the officer could not be sustained.
The police chief ended the letter by reminding the officer that "you are hereby placed on notice that strict compliance is now required" when it comes to the police department's policies regarding the involvement of officers in political or religious demonstrations.
"It is astounding to those of us defending him — shocking actually — that the police department would treat a hardworking, loyal officer this way," Thomas More Society attorney Matt Heffron said. "They left him twisting in the wind for four months because of off-duty prayer."
In March, the Thomas More Society requested that the matter be resolved quickly and that the officer be allowed to return to work. The attorneys say they also sent an open-records request to LMPD and confirmed that the department has not taken disciplinary action against on-duty, uniformed officers who marched with Black Lives Matter protestors or in LGBTQ parades.
