White Says Efficiency Is Essential For LMPD In Lean Times

Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Robert White stressed the importance of efficiency in law enforcement in an address to the Metro Council Tuesday. White addressed the council as part of the body's review of the mayor's proposed budget for the next fiscal year.The budget calls for 34 LMPD employees who are not police officers to be laid off.Even though the department is set to receive more funds than last year, Chief White says the department will have to become more efficient in its crime fighting efforts. Part of that, he says, involves crime prevention programs."Our real success is not how many people we arrest," he says. "How much crime is prevented is really, I think, the success of any government or any police department. And that requires a collaborative relationship with almost every component in the community."There are several police projects in the mayor's proposed capital projects budget, including new vehicles and communications equipment. Some of those costs may be paid for with federal stimulus funds.