Statement by Louisville Branch NAACP

Mayor Craig Greenberg’s pre-election pledges of transparency are sounding more and more like empty rhetoric.

He refuses to release the names of judges cited in the U.S. Department of Justice’s stinging rebuke of the Louisville police department, saying he lacks the authority to do so and doesn’t know who does.

He refuses to open contract negotiations with the police union to the public.

Now, he says he will refuse to disclose the names of finalists for police chief, the person who will be charged with guiding the department as it navigates a looming federal consent decree aimed at ending its long history of abuse.

Moreover, Greenberg is requiring his seven-person interview advisory panel to sign non-disclosure agreements in a move that fosters even more secrecy.

The administration defends its secrecy by claiming it ensures “the highest quality pool of candidates,” according to the Louisville Courier-Journal. It also suggests it is following the law, continuing a pattern of Louisville mayors using questionable legal advice to operate in the dark.

Throughout the early days of his administration, Greenberg has touted his efforts to be transparent. He did release the names of officers cited in the DOJ report, which called out the police department for stunning physical abuses of Black residents’ civil rights.

But the Louisville Branch NAACP says the mayor has fallen far short of his promised goals, instead pedaling misleading and hollow sound bites.

The NAACP is calling on Greenberg to immediately reverse his decision to keep secret the identities of the police chief finalists. The NAACP says he also should conduct public meetings to allow citizens to meet and ask questions of the finalists.

Louisville NAACP president Raoul Cunningham says Greenberg’s credibility is on the line with this decision, which may be the most important one he makes during his administration.

The NAACP urges the mayor to follow the lead of other communities that have been far more transparent and progressive in dealing with the public than he and his predecessors have.

The Louisville community deserves better.