Times files two transparency complaints against LPD

Lexington, Ky–The independent Lexington Times blog filed two formal complaints against the Lexington Police Department this morning. Both complaints center around transparency, or lack thereof, in the Department. Questions were also raised in the complaints as to whether the Department’s attempts to suppress crime data were politically motivated–in one incident, a 13 year-old child was shot and no press release or media report was ever filed. (Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton’s reelection campaign has centered around the effectiveness of her ONE Lexington youth violence prevention program.)

Complaint #1: LPD covers up a shooting under ONE Lexington’s purview

The first formal complaint relates to a shooting that occurred at Woodhill Dr. and Peachtree Rd. on October 6. LPD lists a 13 year old victim in their online crime data, and a police report obtained by the Times shows there were actually two juvenile victims, though no age was released for the second victim. Assuming the second victim was over 13, both would fall under the purview of the ONE Lexington youth violence prevention program, which Mayor Linda Gorton has been pushing as the solution to Lexington’s record-breaking violence this year. Lexington already set a record for total murders AND murder rate in 2022, but Gorton says the program is effective.

A review of LPD press releases shows that no information about the shooting was released to the public when it happened, despite the fact that the shooter was still at large.

Complaint #2: Concealing October 10 Crime Data

If you take LPD at their word, a review of the Community Crime Map for October 10, 2022 shows there were 0 crimes reported in Lexington for that day. Given Lexington’s record breaking year for crime in 2022, that seems unlikely.

What’s more likely is that somewhere in that crime data is something that LPD or the Gorton Administration doesn’t want out there. We emailed LPD about the oversight and they claimed it would be addressed, but it never was.

Is LPD hiding something? Has crime gotten so bad that the Mayor is directing them to do everything in their power to cover up what’s really going on? Is it possible these were mere oversights? You decide.