As Louisville prepares to mark one year since the death of Breonna Taylor, the city continues its work to rebuild trust within the community.On Monday night, the African American Initiative hosted a criminal justice summit to talk about the current state of law enforcement in the community. The panel included Louisville Metro police Chief Erika Shields, Metro Council President David James and River City FOP President Ryan Nichols."We are not adequately providing the public safety that we are charged with providing and we need to address those things and find a way forward so the community is safe, law enforcement officers are doing the job that the community and administration want, and protecting the citizens of Louisville," Nichols said.The summit's moderator, State Sen. Gerald Neal, pointed out that everyone's intentions for the department were the same, but they are not reflected in the data."Everybody wants the police to protect and serve, but we have a report that says we are in a bad situation. In fact, it says we are in crisis," Neal said.The 155-page Hillard Heintze top to bottom review of LMPD made 102 recommendations for the department to help repair what the report called a "deeply strained" relationship with the community."The data has clearly shown there are patterns and practices within the police department that are just flat wrong," Shields said.The lack of trust in the department has created a barrier when it comes to LMPD's ability to solve violent crimes and get a handle on the rising number of homicides."You have this dramatic increase in violent crime in the community that at least wants to see and trust the police," Shields said.Nichols and James said the department's current state is largely a reflection of its previous leadership."For the past seven to eight years, the Louisville Metro Police Department has not been run by a good ethical leader and that's just the facts," James said.Nichols pointed to the many scandals that enveloped the department during previous police chief Steve Conrad's tenure."There's been talks of cover-ups and things that have happened within the department or the administration, but that doesn't happen at the officer level. That happens at the top," Nichols said.Neal agreed that strong leadership was important, but argued it was too easy to place the blame on one individual."It's not the chief of police that's on the streets making decisions about how they interact with the community. They do know better," Neal said.Cherie Dawson-Edwards is a criminal justice professor at the University of Louisville. She says it's important that officers understand the history around race relations in this country in order for them to better police the community."We didn't just arrive here last year. We didn't just arrive here in May or March depending on when people found out about Breonna Taylor. If our local police department wants to do something to improve community relations then we need to understand why our community feels the way we do," Dawson-Edwards said.She says to move forward, the community needs to be more directly involved in the conversations on race and policing. Nichols said a shortage of officers has made it difficult for them to engage with community members beyond when they respond to calls."Talk to business owners, talk to residents, spend enough time on a run to see what's going on in the neighborhood. Our manpower numbers are so short that that doesn't happen anymore," Nichols said.Shields said increasing staffing is another priority, particularly Black officers."We're woefully short on Black officers," Shields said.She believes it's critical that the department reflects the community it serves.