LMPD chief: Officer violated policy not turning on body camera during Scottie Scheffler arrest

THIS IS BREAKING NEWS. GOOD MORNING. GM JENNIFER BAILEYS MAYOR CRAIG GREENBERG AND LOUISVILLE METRO POLICE ARE HOLDING A NEWS CONFERENCE ABOUT THE ARREST OF SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER, THE WORLD’S NUMBER ONE RANKED GOLFER WAS CHARGED WITH ASSAULT OF A POLICE OFFICER EARLY LAST FRIDAY MORNING OUTSIDE VALHALLA GOLF CLUB. WE WANT TO TAKE YOU LIVE TO METRO HALL DOWNTOWN, WHERE THE MAYOR AND POLICE CHIEF ARE SPEAKING RIGHT NOW, PD PIO AT LOUISVILLE, KY. DOT GOV. IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THIS BRIEF, MY OFFICE WILL PUBLISH ROUGH RIVER DOCUMENTS TO OUR FORWARD FACING TRANSPARENCY PAGE. RELEVANT REDACTED VIDEOS WILL BE POSTED TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL. WE WILL LINK OFF TO THESE WEBSITES ON OUR OFFICIAL TWITTER ACCOUNT. MAYOR. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. GOOD MORNING. LAST FRIDAY MORNING, OUR COMMUNITY SUFFERED THE TRAGIC DEATH WITH LOSS OF MR. MILLS JUST AFTER 5 A.M. IN THE MORNING. THAT TRAGIC DEATH LED TO A SERIES OF VERY UNFORTUNATE EVENTS IN DARK, RAINY AND TENSE CONDITIONS. TRANSPARENCY IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT TO OUR ADMINISTRATION, TO LMPD, TO OUR COMMUNITY. GIVEN THE IMPORTANCE OF TRANSPARENCY, WE ARE RELEASING SOME INFORMATION AND SOME VIDEO TODAY AS WE COMMITTED TO FOLLOWING THE TRAGIC EVENTS AND SERIES OF EVENTS THAT HAPPENED THEREAFTER. LATER TO RESTATE WHAT WE’VE ALREADY SAID, WE ARE NOT AWARE AT THIS TIME OF ANY VIDEO FOOTAGE WHICH CAPTURES THE INITIAL INTERACTION BETWEEN LMPD AND MR. SCHEFFLER. WE ARE RELEASING TODAY, VIDEO FOOTAGE AT THE TIME OF MR. SCHEFFLER’S ARREST FROM TWO VIDEO CAMERAS. ONE OF THOSE VIDEO CAMERAS IS A FIXED POLE CAMERA THAT WAS FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF SHELBYVILLE ROAD AND THE OTHER CAMERA IS FROM THE DASH CAM OF A POLICE CAR AT THE REQUEST OF THE COUNTY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE AND ANY ADDITIONAL VIDEO OR EVIDENCE RELATED TO THIS CASE WILL NOT BE RELEASED UNTIL THE CONCLUSION OF THE LEGAL PROCESS, CHIEF JACQUELINE GWYN VILLARROEL IS NOW GOING TO SPEAK TO THE INVESTIGATION OF THE ARRESTING OFFICER. WITH RESPECT TO THE LACK OF USE OF BODY WORN CAMERA CHIEF. GOOD MORNING. THANK YOU ALL FOR JOINING US. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE AS WE WORK TOGETHER FOR ALL AVAILABLE FACTS REGARDING THIS INCIDENT. AND OBVIOUSLY IT IS OF GREAT PUBLIC INTEREST. SO WE APPRECIATE YOU PROVIDING US THE TIME TO ENSURE THAT WE RELEASE ACCURATE INFORMATION WHILE THE JUDICIAL PROCESS IS OCCURRING. WE ARE GRATEFUL TO PGA OFFICIALS AND MAYOR GREENBERG FOR BRINGING THIS PRESTIGIOUS EVENT TO OUR BEAUTIFUL CITY. ON LAST WEEK. BUT TRAGICALLY, LAST FRIDAY WE LOST A BELOVED COMMUNITY MEMBER WHO WAS WORKING THE EVENT. AS WE STATED IN OUR PRELIMINARY PUBLIC MESSAGE, LMPD EXPRESSES ITS OUR CONDOLENCES TO THE FAMILY AND FRIENDS OF JOHN MILLS, WHO WAS FATALLY STRUCK BY A SHUTTLE BUS OUTSIDE OF VALHALLA GOLF CLUB. BY ALL ACCOUNTS, WE HAVE LEARNED THAT MR. MILLS WAS KNOWN FOR HIS KINDNESS AND DEDICATION TO OUR COMMUNITY. HIS PASSING HAS LEFT A NOTABLE VOID IN THE GOLFING COMMUNITY AND THROUGHOUT THE CITY. REGARDING THE RESULTS OF OUR INTERNAL INVESTIGATION, DETECTIVE GILLIS DID HAVE AN ENCOUNTER, AS WE KNOW WITH MR. SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER. DETECTIVE GILLIS SHOULD HAVE TURNED ON HIS BODY WORN CAMERA, BUT DID NOT. HIS FAILURE TO DO SO IS A VIOLATION OF THE LMPD POLICY ON UNIFORMS AND EQUIPMENT. SUBJECT CATEGORY, BODY WORN CAMERA, AND HE WAS SUSTAINED FOR A VIOLATION OF THE POLICY. 4.31.6 PROCEDURES AND 4.31.7 OPERATION DETECTIVE GILLIS DID NOT HAVE HIS BODY WORN CAMERA OPERATED OPERATIONALLY READY AS REQUIRED BY OUR POLICY. HE WAS PERFORMING A LAW ENFORCEMENT ACTION AS DEFINED IN OUR POLICY. FURTHER, IN SECTION 4.3, 1.7 STATES MEMBERS WILL MAINTAIN THEIR BWC IN A CONSTANT STATE OF OPERATIONAL READINESS. DETECTIVE GILLIS WAS COUNSELED BY HIS SUPERVISOR. WE UNDERSTAND THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE FAILURE TO CAPTURE THIS INTERACTION, WHICH IS WHY OUR OFFICER HAS RECEIVED CORRECTIVE ACTION FOR THIS POLICY VIOLATION. THIS CORRECTIVE ACTION HAS BEEN NOTATED ON A PERFORMANCE OBSERVATION FORM, WHICH IS IN LINE WITH OUR DISCIPLINARY PROTOCOL AND PRACTICES. WE RESPECT THE JUDICIAL PROCESS, AND WE WILL ALLOW THE COURTS TO PROCEED ACCORDINGLY. WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO MAKE ANY FURTHER STATEMENTS AS IT RELATES TO THIS MATTER. AT THE CONCLUSION OF THIS PRESS CONFERENCE, AS YOU’VE ALREADY HEARD, WE WERE RELEASED THE DOCUMENTS AS FOLLOWS. YOU WILL FIND THE INVESTIGATIVE FINDINGS MEMORANDUM BY THE COMMANDER OF THE UNIT. YOU WILL ALSO SEE THE FAILURE TO ACTIVATE FORM COMPLETED BY DETECTIVE GILLIS. YOU ALSO FIND OUR POLICY LOCATED AS WELL AS WELL AS THE TWO AFOREMENTIONED VIDEOS FOOTAGE THAT THE MAYOR HAS MENTIONED. ALSO, ALL THIS INFORMATION WILL BE UPLOADED TO OUR YOUTUBE PAGE. I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE A POINT OF PRIVILEGE TO THANK AGAIN MAYOR GREENBERG, THE LOCAL MEDIA AND THE NATIONAL MEDIA FOR MAKING EVERY EFFORT TO PROVIDE FAIR REPORTING. BUT I ALSO WANT TO TAKE A MOMENT TO THANK ALL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS AROUND THE NATION FOR THE WORK THAT YOU DO EVERY DAY, AND I’M TRULY GRATEFUL FOR LMPD’S DEDICATION TO KEEPING THIS COMMUNITY SAFE HERE IN LOUISVILLE. WE THANK YOU AND WE APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT AS WE NAVIGATE THROUGH THIS PROCESS. MAYOR. THANK YOU. CHIEF. IN LOUISVILLE AROUND THE COUNTRY, BUT ESPECIALLY HERE IN LOUISVILLE AFTER THE RECENT PAST, ACTIVATING BODY WORN CAMERAS IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT FOR OUR POLICE DEPARTMENT TO HAVE EVIDENCE TO MAINTAIN THE COMMUNITY’S TRUST. JUST TO BE TRANSPARENT TO CHIEF, I APPRECIATE THE SPEED AT WHICH WITH YOU HAVE CONDUCTED THE INVESTIGATION INTO THIS SITUATION. YOU HAVE DEALT WITH IT TRANSPARENTLY AND STRAIGHTFORWARDLY, AND WE ARE ALL LOOKING TO MOVE FORWARD. I KNOW THERE ARE A LOT OF QUESTIONS RIGHT NOW FROM EVERY MEMBER OF THE MEDIA HERE, AND PEOPLE ACROSS THE ENTIRE CITY, BUT WE HAVE TO RESPECT THE LEGAL PROCESS, AND THAT’S WHAT WE ARE GOING TO DO. AND WE’RE GOING TO LET THAT PLAY OUT. WE WANT TO MOVE FORWARD. MR. SCHEFFLER HAS MADE IT CLEAR THAT HE WANTS TO BE MOVED FORWARD, AND I KNOW THAT EVERYONE ELSE INVOLVED AT LMPD WANTS TO MOVE FORWARD. LMPD NEEDS TO BE FOCUSED ON REDUCING THE AMOUNT OF VIOLENT CRIME IN OUR CITY, REDUCING THE AMOUNT OF GUN VIOLENCE, PROTECTING AND KEEPING PEOPLE SAFE. THAT IS WHAT THEY DO EVERY DAY. THAT’S WHAT THEY’VE DONE SINCE LAST FRIDAY WHEN THEY WERE WORKING WITH A DETAIL OUT AT VALHALLA AND ON SHELBYVILLE ROAD. AND THAT’S WHAT THEY WILL CONTINUE TO DO. SO AGAIN, WE UNDERSTAND THERE ARE A LOT OF QUESTIONS AS WE ARE GOING TO RESPECT THE LEGAL PROCESS. AND I’M VERY HOPEFUL THAT ON JUNE THIRD, THE NEXT STEP IN THE LEGAL PROCESS THAT ALL PARTIES ARE IN A POSITION TO MOVE FORWARD. THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH. AND WE WERE JUST LISTENING TO MAYOR GREENBERG AND LMPD CHIEF RESPONDING TO AN UPDATING US ON THE ARREST OF SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER, THE NUMBER ONE RANKED GOLFER IN THE WORLD. NOW THIS ALL HAPPENED LAST FRIDAY DURING THE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP. NOW, THE POLICE CHIEF DID NOTE IN REGARDS TO THE BODY CAMERA VIDEO THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ROLLING, HE SAID. SHE SAID THAT DETECTIVE GILLIS SHOULD HAVE TURNED ON THAT BODY CAMERA VIDEO, BUT DID NOT AND VIOLATED POLICY FOR LMPD. THAT CAMERA, SHE ALSO NOTED, WAS NOT READY AND NOT WORKING. THE CHIEF ALSO SAID THE OFFICER, DETECTIVE GILLIS, WAS RECEIVED SOME SORT OF CORRECTIVE ACTION