Police Chief speaks out on lack of support for law enforcement amidst violence in Lexington
He says the department is doing what they can for the City while facing a shortage of officers with 89 vacancies
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – In the past two years, Lexington Police have come under fire as Black Lives Matter and Lexington Police Accountability advocates rallied and demanded change from the department when it comes to transparency and policing policies.
Now as the City sees an increase in violent crime, Mayor Linda Gorton says people are once again questioning law enforcement.
“You know people say well the police should have prevented that shooting or this shooting. The police can’t be on every square foot of Fayette County at every moment” said Mayor Gorton.
And Police Chief Lawrence Weathers has had enough, saying the department was lumped together with police across the country in association with a few “bad” officers.
But, he says they overcame that, and he knows they have proved they are not that type of police department.
“Ya’ll need to realize, the work we do is hard and I think the police department here has proven that beyond a doubt that we are here for this City. If you had seen this last couple of weeks the amount of effort and time our police have spent working on issues the dedication, the personal dedication they take in making this City safe ,you know why I always say we set the standard” said Chief Weathers.
He says the department is doing what they can for the City while facing a shortage of officers with 89 vacancies.
He emphasized that when he has an officer leave, its because of a lack of appreciation from the community for the work they do.
“It’s time to stop all this nonsense and realize that you’ve got a different community here and start appreciating what your police do for you and start appreciating what your E-911 workers do for you, start appreciating what your fire department does for you, start appreciating what your corrections officer do for you, that’s what we need when we say community involvement, we need you to be involved with public safety, I’m sorry but thank you” added Weathers.
