The Community Commitment, a 214-page reform document introduced in May 2025, was meant to continue changes at the Louisville Metro Police Department after the U.S. Department of Justice dropped its federally mandated reform case against the city. The DOJ had found that LMPD engaged in a pattern and practice of unconstitutional policing, discrimination and civil rights violations—findings that followed the 2020 police killing of Breonna Taylor and the protests that erupted afterward.

Metro Government hired Effective Law Enforcement For All, known as ELEFA, to monitor LMPD's progress. ELEFA lead Louisville monitor Sheree Briscoe Stewart said the goal was for the department to complete policy review in 13 areas during 2026: agency management and supervision; community-based public safety; use of force; search warrant application; search warrant execution; protests and demonstrations; fair and impartial enforcement; street enforcement; behavioral health; domestic violence, sexual misconduct and sexual assault; misconduct and discipline; officer and employee assistance; and recruiting and hiring.

With roughly six weeks left in the year, Briscoe Stewart said only the use-of-force area has reached completion. Two search-warrant-related areas are in the review process, and a fourth is slated to begin soon. In nine of the 13 areas, ELEFA has not yet received new policy drafts from LMPD.

"In my experience it's kind of challenging in the first year because you are laying the foundational groundwork," Briscoe Stewart said. "We knew this was going to be a huge endeavor and overzealous look to try and get them in the first year. We have not gotten them all and that is not uncommon."

In its first full progress report, ELEFA wrote that "early policy progress was limited, and resources are tight," adding that beyond use of force, most sections remained at the initial policy-review stage. The monitor cited "real constraints on staffing and resources, including a policy-writing unit operating short-handed" as factors that "may test the current timeline." Briscoe Stewart also said time was needed to establish ground rules for communication and responses from the city.

A city spokesperson said the timeline laid out in the Community Commitment for releasing revisions to the public and implementing them extends into 2027 in most categories. On Wednesday, Greenberg declined to characterize the pace as a lag.

"I don't think there is a lag," Greenberg said. "LMPD and our administration has been working every day on reforms and improvements to LMPD and our city government and relationships with the community."

The mayor pointed to a new LMPD pilot that pairs officers with psychologists through body cameras while they respond to calls as evidence of progress. The program follows two incidents this year in which LMPD officers shot and killed people experiencing mental health crises. In March, Katelyn Hall was shot and killed by officers while holding a jagged piece of porcelain. In May, Martin Nitzken Jr., who was unarmed and naked, was fatally shot by officer Nathan Stotts, who resigned amid termination proceedings and has been charged with manslaughter in Nitzken's death.

ELEFA's first full progress report identified LMPD's behavioral health response as an area needing "urgent attention," noting that work remained in its "earliest stage" at the end of June. Briscoe Stewart said ELEFA has not received a formal policy governing behavioral health or the pilot co-responder program, which is being tested in four patrol divisions.

"We have not yet received that policy but we are aware of the pilot program," she said.

An LMPD spokesperson said that during the testing phase, the program operates under parameters outlined in a contract with Shelton Forensics and a memorandum distributed to staff before the September launch. A public records request has been submitted to obtain the memo.

Louisville Inspector General Edward Harness raised concerns about launching a new policing practice, even as a pilot, without a formal policy in place.

"You should always have a policy in place before you roll out a policing practice. That's going to dictate the behavior and how the officers conduct themselves," Harness said. "Right now it's arbitrary, up in the air judgment."

The Community Commitment is designed to last five years, but unlike the federally mandated reforms initially sought by the DOJ, it is a voluntary agreement. That means no federal judge is overseeing compliance or requiring the city to extend the process if reforms remain unfinished when the term ends. Without approval from Metro Council, the commitment also remains outside city law, raising questions about how the promised reforms will be enforced in the years ahead.

"We have been totally transparent with the progress we have been making and we will continue to be so in the months and weeks ahead," Greenberg said.

Under the plan, ELEFA releases progress reports on LMPD every six months.