Unarmed Louisville security guards may be required to undergo training
LOUISVILLE KY
January 4, 2025
Almost five years after an altercation with a bouncer left a man dead, a Louisville councilwoman has proposed regulations that would require all unarmed security guards to be trained and licensed.
Councilwoman Jennifer Chappell says the regulations would make the city safer.
However, some of her colleagues on Metro Council and in Mayor Craig Greenberg’s administration are not convinced they are necessary and think the cost could be too burdensome, despite calling the incident that spurred the regulations “tragic.”
On Jan. 5, 2020, bouncer Justin Wright was escorting patron Christopher McKinney out of the now-closed Nowhere Bar for “unruly behavior” when Wright struck McKinney, who became unresponsive. He died later that day at the University of Louisville Hospital from blunt force trauma.
McKinney’s husband, Nick Clark, said he later learned Louisville’s unarmed security guards are not required to be trained or licensed. He has since spoken with U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey, members of the Kentucky General Assembly and local elected officials about establishing stricter requirements.
In Louisville, he worked with Chappell to craft “Christopher’s Law,” which would require unarmed security officers in Louisville to have training in de-escalation techniques, defensive tactics, crowd control, fire control, basic law and other topics to get a license.
The licensing process would also require a background check and would cost $25.
No word on whether or not that this legislative piece will become law.
