A memo was sent to 4th district officers Thursday, the day after jurors found McKenzie Mattingly not guilty of murdering Michael Newby. Mattingly, a former Metro officer, shot Newby, 19, after an undercover drug deal turned violent in the west end in January.
Maj. Darice Riley, who's in charge of the 4th District, sent the memo to all officers in the district.
In the memo, Wiley wrote to officers in the predominantly black district, "During this time of possible community unrest, lay low and make runs only. This is not the time for agressive policing."
"I wanted the community and my officers to know that this is a day we need to listen," she said. "This is not the day we need to go out and serve misdemeanor warrants, looking for people in an aggressive manner, saturating areas that didn't need it. This is a day we needed to listen."
Wiley said officers understood that if they saw criminal activity while on patrol, they still were to stop and investigate.
"By no means was it that we weren't going to do any enforcement," Wiley said. "But on that day, (officers didn't need) to be doing the usual tactics that we would do for aggressive enforcement for our drug corners and our trouble-spot locations."
The memo also referenced a flier that circulated in the Metro's Parkhill neighborhood. The flier took a threatening tone, and concluded with a warning to Metro Louisville government and police that read, "This is your last warning."
"That's an officer-safety issue," Wiley said.
Wiley added that the department will not be held hostage by threats, and said that officers will continue to do their jobs stopping crime in the community, Gardner reported.
Wiley said she has no regrets about sending a memo. That there was no violence in the district after the verdict is proof that she did the right thing, Wiley said.