Former Kentucky State Police Commissioner Ishmon Burks has been named the Louisville Metro Police Department's interim chief.
Burks is also a former Secretary of the Kentucky Justice Cabinet. He takes the position on Tuesday, and will serve until April, when Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer expects to name a permanent replacement for current Chief Robert White, who is leaving for the chief's position in Denver. "Ish is widely respected in the criminal justice field and he will be an excellent interim chief," Fischer said in a news release. "I thought it was important to name an interim from outside the department and to name someone who has no interest in the permanent chief's position."
The mayor said Burks is to "lead the department from a macro view," but that the day-to-day operations of the department will be handled by the command staff.
Burks is also an assistant professor and academic coordinator of criminal justice at Jefferson Community and Technical College, and a former vice president at Spalding University.
The mayor says he would prefer to promote someone from within LMPD to be Chief White's permanent replacement.
The search will have four distinct steps. Each of the 26 metro council members will meet with their constituents, and hear what qualities they would like to see in a new chief. Every applicant will have to submit a detailed application with essays on leadership, crime, and other topics. A four-member assessment team will then pick the five finalists, all of whom Fischer will interview. The city will also pay U of L's Southern Police Institute nearly $50,000 to help with the search.
"We've had good leadership development within our current LMPD staff and troops," Fischer said last month. "Ideally, several of these folks have been trained for a position like this. Ideally, one of them will rise to the top."
While Fischer prefers a local candidate, this will be a national search. He says if someone from outside of Louisville emerges as the most qualified replacement, he won't hesitate to hire that person.