21-hour days and $320,000 of overtime highlight 'shocking' extra pay to 7 LMPD officers

In short, the answer to your implication is no. Promotions to high ranks here do not indicate competency. They indicate political subservience.

Your pollyanna authoritarianism is the result of your ignorance of history. Louisville's Democrats have used Louisville's Police as their partisan flunkees for much of Louisville's history. You don't become the Chief under a Democrat mayor because you're competent, just as you don't become a member of the chief's command staff or one of their chosen few. They need the police chief to serve help them stay in office and the chief needs loyal servants who'll do as they're expected, often without being told.

Louisville's political patronage system has evolved but hasn't gone away. It probably never will so long as people with more greed than integrity continue to win office and apply to the police department. They've replaced the pre-1980s bribe collection rackets with permissive overtime abuse or do-little jobs. Palms still get greased so the Mayor can get his TV soundbites from the Majors ice cream events and Possibility City cheerleading.

You should ask one of the rookies to read this for you and explain what it says. It's some background on Louisville's Democrat machine politics.

http://www.brandonkendhammer.com/democratization_winter2012/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Campbell-2003.pdf