LMPD :: Louisville Metro Police Department
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Police Web site to lose Louisville symbols

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A former police officer has agreed to remove any official Louisville government or police symbols, including images of the department badge and patch, from a Web site he maintains for police officers.

The agreement, signed this week, came after a Nov. 29 hearing was scheduled before the Police Merit Board in which Ansman was going to appeal his firing.

He was fired June 30 after Police Chief Robert White decided that Ansman had violated department policies during a police pursuit and then lied about it.

Before the appeal, White dropped the charges against Ansman and allowed him to resign.

White could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The agreement forbids Ansman from talking about the terms of the settlement. His attorney, David Leightty, declined to comment on the specifics but said that Ansman will be able to retain the Web address, which is www.lmpd.com.

Ansman, who owns the domain name of the site, has operated it since March 2006. He previously ran an identical site under a different Web address for the police union.

News stories and opinion pieces about the metro police and other departments are routinely posted on the site, and readers may post comments. Many of the comments include negative information or opinions about White and department policies.

Leightty said Ansman plans to keep the Web site name but would not comment on any of the changes being made to the site. Some changes, including a new heading that only says police, were on the page by yesterday afternoon.

Ansman had been fired previously by White before but was given his job back by the Merit Board in October 2004. Instead of losing his job, he served a 29-day suspension for several incidents in which White said he had been untruthful.