Scheffler's arrest remains a mystery. LMPD withholds video and information.

Out of respect for the “legal process” and at the request of the Jefferson County District Attorney, Louisville Metro has decided to withhold at least some records related to the arrest of a golfer by Louisville Metro Police at the Valhalla Golf Course during the PGA Tournament last week.

Mayor Craig Greenberg and Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel declined to answer questions about the incident, citing again the Jefferson County District Attorney’s request to allow the legal process to play out. The police chief said the investigation results, the signed body cam deactivation form, the body cam policies in place and two videos – a fixed pole-mounted camera across the street from the incident and a dash cam video – would be posted on the LMPD website immediately following Thursday’s press conference.

What is the LMPD hiding?

This raises the question: What is being withheld, and can Metro or the Jefferson County District Attorney meet the burden of proof imposed on them by law that disclosure at this time would create “a concrete risk of harm” to their investigation and prosecution of PGA golfer Scott Scheffler?

Scheffler’s arrest comes as no surprise.Check out the history of the Louisville Metro Police Department.

Apparently, additional video footage that captured the incident in whole or in part is being withheld – possibly other unidentified public records.

The requirements for taking advantage of the exemption for ongoing law enforcement agencies (KRS 61.878(1)(h)) are high.

The Kentucky Supreme Court has emphasized:

“The law enforcement exception can only be invoked if the agency can demonstrate a factual basis for its application, that is, if the content of the recording is such that its publication poses a concrete risk to the agency in taking future action. A concrete risk must, by definition, be more than a hypothetical or speculative concern.”

Withholding the video of Sheffler’s arrest only raises more suspicion

What “specific risk of harm” can the Jefferson County District Attorney demonstrate that justifies non-release of some but not all of the videos? What other recordings, if any, has the District Attorney asked Metro to withhold on this basis, and what specific risk of harm is there in releasing them prematurely?

Gerth:Since we’ve caught the attention of white golfers, can we talk about the police?

There are undoubtedly pending requests for disclosure of records related to the arrest. Louisville Metro officials cannot dodge those requests as easily as they dodged reporters’ questions at Thursday’s press conference. The open records law does not allow it.

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