Louisville Metro's first Inspector General, Edward Harness, sitting in his office in City Hall.( LPM News)Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg says he will not shut down investigations by the city’s Office of Inspector General into police officer misconduct.Greenberg defended the agency in response to LPM News’ questions at a press conference Tuesday morning. His defiant statement comes after the local police union, the River City Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 614, sent a cease and desist notice to the city last month, arguing the Inspector General’s investigations run afoul of state law.“If they choose to sue the city we will defend ourselves in court,” Greenberg said Tuesday. “We plan to continue moving forward. We believe that it is legally constituted as-is.”The Louisville Office of Inspector General was created by Metro Council in December 2020 after the police killing of Breonna Taylor. The office investigates resident complaints, but does not have the power to discipline officers.Inspector General Ed Harness, who has served in that role since the office’s founding, called the mayor’s statement of support “a positive development.”“It’s encouraging, for sure,” Harness said. “We’ll see what the FOP wants to do.”The River City FOP did not respond to LPM News’ emailed request for comment Tuesday.In a letter to Greenberg on May 7, an attorney representing the police union wrote investigations into resident complaints by the Inspector General “are in direct contravention of state law.”Kyle Vaughn, the attorney, cited a 2024 amendment to the Kentucky Revised Statutes that certain citizen complaints and misconduct allegations “shall be investigated by the department or another designated law enforcement agency.”“Please allow this letter to serve as the Lodge’s formal request and demand that you direct your OIG to cease and desist from the improper and illegal conduct described above,” the letter concluded. “The Lodge is prepared to file suit in Jefferson Circuit Court to compel compliance with Kentucky law.”Harness said he believes the police union’s threats have no merit.Harness said he told city officials in recent weeks that the law the police union is citing doesn’t speak to third-party oversight. And he said the union has misrepresented the office’s investigations as being “disciplinary” in nature.“First, I didn’t think there was a factual basis,” Harness said. “Secondarily, I don’t believe that the mayor’s office would have the ability to unilaterally end our ability to do investigations into citizen complaints.”Harness said if the police union is successful in shutting down its investigations, he believes the Office of Inspector General could continue to conduct investigations that are not based on complaints, but instead initiated by his staff or requested by the independent Civilian Review and Accountability Board. He cited his office’s recent study on detectives and an ongoing investigation into LMPD’s homicide unit as examples. ...read more read less