The city of Louisville has chosen Yvette Gentry, a Black woman, as interim police chief of the Louisville Metro Police Department, according to the Louisville Courier Journal. In a powerful speech on Monday, she said the city is facing a "reckoning."

Gentry, who has already said she does not want the job permanently, will be the city's first woman to serve as police chief.

The new interim police chief spent years as a deputy chief in the department and is taking over for Steve Conrad, who was slated to retire this year but was fired after he claimed the police who fatally shot Breonna Taylor in March were not wearing body cameras. The claim has now been thrown into question since lawyers for Taylor's boyfriend said one officer did in fact have a body camera on.

The 50-year-old will take over the top spot on October 1 after being in retirement since 2014 according to The Louisville Courier Journal.

After taking over for Conrad in the wake of his firing, interim chief Robert Schroeder has faced a variety of scandals related to the circumstances around Taylor's death as well as the police killing of David McAtee, a Black business owner, and protests resulting from both shootings.

Saying recent times have been hard on everyone in the city, she acknowledged the despair of protesters in particular.

"I will just say: That is just a glimpse of how a lot of people have been feeling for a long time, and we can't go back. I think our city is at a point of reckoning that only truth can bring us out of. Only truth can break us out; only truth can take away darkness," Gentry said in during a Monday press conference.

“I think our city is at a point of reckoning that only truth can bring us out of …only truth can take away darkness.” Incoming interim @LMPD Yvette Gentry. @WDRBNews
pic.twitter.com/7TkXKuvHDE

— Gilbert Corsey (@gcorsey) September 7, 2020

Gentry then went on to mention Taylor.

"We can't just hide behind signs that say, 'Black lives matter,' 'Blue lives matter.' We got to ask ourselves, if Breonna Taylor's name came across an application in this city, would she get an interview? Does your board of influencers and decision makers, anyone who has influence…does anybody look like her?"

Gentry explained to the Louisville Courier Journal that she will not be staying on the job for long and only took the position because the city needed someone to hold down the fort until a permanent replacement for Conrad is found.

"When you live in Louisville, and you raise your kids here, like I do, and your family's here, I want that chief to be successful. So, even though I wasn't interested in the full time job, I realized that somebody has to stand in the gap," she said, explaining that the city has a long way to go in addressing the systemic racism felt by Black citizens, and even her own sons.

"Even my well-resourced sons have run up against systems and systemic racism, in this city that I was willing to die for. It just showed him that he didn't belong there. Even a well-resourced young man is in this city, very angry, because everywhere they go or a lot of places they go, they don't feel welcome. The police got work to do. The mayor's office, he's certainly got some mending to do. But the city, across all systems, has got work to do," she said.

Gentry was born and raised in Louisville, went to the University of Louisville and has longstanding ties to the city.

Embattled mayor Greg Fischer said they are already interviewing replacements and have received at least 20 applications for the job.

I appreciate Yvette Gentry's willingness to be interim @LMPD Chief. She brings unparalleled experience & strong community relationships to lead until a permanent Chief is in place, & she is passionate about helping her city address systemic racism & reimagine public safety. 2/2

— Mayor Greg Fischer (@louisvillemayor) September 7, 2020

The FBI and Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron are still conducting their investigation of what happened to Taylor, but multiple lawyers within the state have already cautioned that the murder charges being sought by protesters around the world are not likely to come.

For more than 100 days, protests have continued in honor of Taylor's killing which, along with George Floyd's death, sparked global demonstrations against police brutality and oppression.

The city is still reeling from the summer of protests that have not ceased — one even took place during the annual Kentucky Derby last weekend. Gentry said it was her goal to bridge the gap between the community and the police.

In her interview with the newspaper, she said she hoped being a Black woman and a person with longstanding ties to the police department would help her bring the community together.

"Being a Black woman, and a veteran and a former police officer, when you've worn all the hats of people who are out here, wanting to be heard, and you've worked in a place where you've tried to be heard and didn't necessarily feel like you were, I just feel like I have that type of experience that I can bring in there. People are just so far apart. And maybe, I can be in the middle and I can bridge it," she said.

"That's what the community said: 'We want somebody who's going to look us in the face.' And not always be right — I don't think anybody expects the police to always be right, I don't think anyone expects politicians to always be right — but we've just got to be honest when we're not and commit to improving," Gentry added.

Yvette-Gentry

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