In a city with limited nightlife, Bardstown Road to Louisvillians is the equivalent of Ocean Drive to those who live in Miami. With all the most popular bars concentrated in one area, Louisville was bound to eventually run into the problem that’s come to be known as “Street Takeovers”.
In late May of this year, Bardstown Road experienced two consecutive weekends where hundreds of bargoers and young adults flooded the streets. Videos posted on social media show people dancing on top of cars and congregating in the middle of the road, causing a complete traffic stop.
The Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) was dispatched onto the scene to break up the crowd that night, only to have to return and disperse large groups a second time the following weekend. On the second weekend, LMPD arrested three people for disorderly conduct.
Residents of the area expressed concerns for their safety and the wellbeing of their neighborhoods. Business owners shared their frustrations and fears of returning to their shops to find their windows smashed and their livelihoods destroyed.
In response to the “Street Takeovers,” councilman Ben Reno-Weber, representative of District 8 in the Louisville Metro Council, said that they would begin working with LMPD, Louisville Metro Alcoholic Beverage Control and the mayor’s office to, “Adjust closing times, block parking lots to trespassers, and generally make Bardstown Road a place that is welcoming to those who want to respect their neighbors and unwelcoming to those seeking to cause trouble.”
By the beginning of June, LMPD had implemented multiple strategies to try and prevent “criminal activity” in the Highlands area. They restricted access to certain parking lots, dedicated a patrol squad to the area, and began something called “roll call,” where about ten to fifteen officers are assigned to an area in hopes that their presence will deter crime.
While this initiative was effective in deterring the occurrence of “street takeovers,” it left many young adults with mixed feelings on the recent heavy policing of the bars on Bardstown Road.
“I’ve been to a good number of major cities, and I don’t think I’ve seen anything that compares to the amount of police you’ll find on Bardstown Road and in Nulu. What started off as one or two cop cars in front of Atomic or Corridor Bar has become an inescapable and threatening police presence in places meant for adult recreation,” says 23-year-old Anthony Woods.
“I believe many people share the same sentiment that although Bardstown Road might feel unsafe at times, being watched by the police in and outside of bars doesn’t feel safe either. I struggle to see cops blocking off roads and walking around inside bars as something that would make me feel more comfortable going out. It feels more like they’re creating intentional fear, scaring people away who might do something wrong but also scaring away those who have a traumatic relationship with police in the process. They are creating spaces where Black people will be scared to simply exist, and they likely see that as a positive.”
Zakia Holland, local community organizer, shares the same sentiment as Anthony.
“They don’t want Black folks gathering, period,” she states.
Frequenter of Atomic Sound Club and Gameyard, Jataren Mulligan, questions if the problem is the crowd itself, or just who makes up the crowd.
“They have all the clubs open, and they want it to be a ‘popping’ city, but when it’s a ‘popping’ city y’all want to shut it down?” he asks. “Nulu looks like that all the time, and Fourth Street be crazy. Bardstown Road just ain’t for us [Black Americans] I guess.”
Unfortunately, Jataren’s experiences with the designated officers on Bardstown Road have only further weakened his opinion of LMPD.
“This one time I walked out of Atomic and it’s a party [outside the bar]. The sidewalks were flooded, but it looked like a normal active city with bars. I look across the street, and I see somebody doing a backflip off of a car. One police officer came over, handcuffed him, and then five more came over and they threw him on the ground, knee on neck, overly beating this dude up for doing a backflip.”
Others have been questioned and harassed by LMPD for doing far less than acrobatics off of cars. 20-year-old Max Stuckey was simply picking his friend up from Highland Tap Room, the previous location of the “Street Takeovers”, when he was approached by officers.
“I was standing in the parking lot waiting for my friend to come out, when these cops walked all the way over to me. I was way out of everyone’s way, just chilling there. They walked up to me and pointed to a random cup in a parking spot that was probably 15-feet away from me. They asked what I was doing, and I told them that I was waiting on my friend. They asked, ‘Where at?’ and I said, ‘The Tap Room,’ and they were like, ‘Is that your drink over there?’ and I was like, ‘No sir,’ and they were like, ‘Don’t be lying to us, you shouldn’t be out here, and I think it’s best you leave. We’re going to walk away and when we come back that drink and you better be gone.’”
Max saw this incident as an indicator of a bigger issue, an issue of LMPD immediately resorting to hostility with anyone on Bardstown Road after hours due to the events that transpired there before.
“I think what adds to the hostility that police have is that they don’t know how to interact with regular people… at all. If they can’t treat regular people with respect, how are you going to feel about Louisville if you’re visiting and all the police officers are treating you like crap?”
As of right now, there isn’t one singular opinion on the increased policing of Bardstown Road. On one hand, residents and business owners of the area feel safer with the extra layer of protection offered by LMPD. On the other hand, those looking to enjoy the sliver of nightlife Louisville has to offer are becoming increasingly discouraged by the heavy presence and actions of our police force.
