New Metro Police Chief Steve Conrad told several hundred Rotarians Thursday that his goal is to make "Louisville the safest city in America."
But Conrad said in his luncheon address to the Rotary Club of Louisville at the Galt House that he needs every citizen's help in striving for that end.
Conrad, 55, challenged his audience to help the police, saying "our success is 100 percent dependent on community involvement....I ask you, beg you, please get involved. Help us (the police) figure out how to improve our quality of life."
He said he longs for a community where children can play safely outside, where people can go to work "and not worry about getting their door kicked in" and where "seniors can walk and not worry about being harassed."
The police, he said, will do their part to enforce the law, but "we need to do this together."
He urged people to watch their neighbors and to take all the steps that they can to prevent themselves from becoming victims of crime, such as being targets of identify theft. And Conrad urged people to be good citizens, reporting abandoned vehicles, picking up trash, forming block watches and removing graffiti.
Mayor Greg Fischer tapped Conrad to be police chief several weeks ago, bringing him back to Louisville after serving as police chief in Glendale, Ariz. He was born and raised in Louisville, attending Ballard High School and the University of Louisville.
Conrad served 25 years as a Louisville police officer and was tapped by Robert White, whom he succeeded as chief, to play a major role in combining the old Louisville and Jefferson County police departments when the city and county were merged in 2003. Conrad in his speech referred to White as "an incredible leader," but he said White told him "I am not much of a detail guy. Make it (merging the departments) happen."