An embattled Louisville Metro Police Officer has now been fired, after years of investigations. Jackie Hollingsworth has been at the center of many WHAS11 News stories, after accusations surfaced about her allegedly taking money intended for a youth center.
WHAS11's Renee Murphy sat down exclusively with Hollingsworth Saturday night for her first interview in six years and Hollingsworth answered the question she has never been able to publicly address; did she take money from the Black Police Officers Union for your own personal gain, or for someone in her family.
Jackie Hollingsworth was fired on Friday from Louisville Metro Police; she has been the focus of a criminal investigation for years. "I didn't do any of these things that they accusing me of," said Hollingsworth who was accused of taking money from the Black Police Officers Union in 2004; money planned to turn a building on South Floyd Street into a youth center.
She was never criminally charged and says she never took any money except to give $1,000 to her son and his friends for work they did on the building. "No, no, and I'm still trying to get another facility for kids because it's needed," said Hollingsworth.
But her firing doesn't stem from that investigation. Her termination letter addresses two reasons for her firing; one, police say she lied about expenditures for a youth event at Central High School in 2006. "I just want the community to know that I did not do these things and I want them to understand that's why I'm speaking out now, to clear my name and hope that the truth will set me free."
She was also terminated for an incident in 2008 where a motorcycle group gathered on Broadway. The police told them to disperse because the crowd was too big. Hollingsworth is a member of that group and was there that night; she expressed concern about why officers were asking them to leave. Her termination letter says she was fired for interfering with a police officer's duties.
"My biggest loss for this is kids looking at me saying did you do that when my job was to be like a role model to kids," said Hollingsworth. She says she plans to appeal her termination.
Louisville Metro Police say it took years to terminate Hollingsworth because they had to wait until the criminal investigation was over before they could begin their administrative investigation.
Hollingsworth was never criminally charged.