The Louisville police chief responsible for the botched case against world No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler was forced to resign this week.
Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel vowed to “respect the legal process” and “let it play out” after Scheffler was surprisingly arrested at the PGA Championship in May.
The golfer was taken to jail and charged with a felony (second-degree assault on a police officer) after being detained while trying to enter Valhalla.
But now Gwinn-Villaroel has become Louisville’s third full-time police chief to resign or be fired since 2020. The department has had a revolving door at the top since officers shot and killed Breonna Taylor during a failed drug raid that year.
Officials were criticized for their handling of Scheffler’s case before all charges against the world number one were dropped.
Louisville Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel (pictured) was forced to resign this week.
She was responsible for the failed case against world number one golfer Scottie Scheffler.
But Gwinn-Villaroel resigned after being suspended for mishandling a sexual harassment complaint against an officer.
The department has been mired in turmoil in recent weeks over allegations of sexual harassment. Last week, two female officers filed lawsuits alleging they had been sexually harassed by other officers in recent years.
Mayor Craig Greenberg said Tuesday that the conduct alleged in the lawsuits was “unacceptable and inexcusable.”
“Everyone should be treated with respect by their colleagues,” Greenberg said. ‘And everyone has a responsibility to treat others with respect. “This should be the case in all workplaces.”
Gwinn-Villaroel was suspended for mishandling a complaint filed by Maj. Shannon Lauder against a fellow police officer.
Lauder reported this to Gwinn-Villaroel during a command staff meeting in May, but later in that same meeting, Gwinn-Villaroel promoted the major to lieutenant colonel.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg (left) announced Gwinn-Villaroel’s resignation on Tuesday.
Scheffler was accused of dragging Detective Bryan Gillis (pictured) to the ground in Valhalla.
Greenberg named Paul Humphrey, who took over as interim chief after Gwinn-Villaroel was suspended on June 12, as interim chief, the fourth interim chief since 2020.
The mayor did not elaborate Tuesday on why Gwinn-Villaroel resigned or whether he asked her to leave the department.
Greenberg said sexual harassment training procedures would be improved and the department’s policy that harassment complaints must go through an officer’s chain of command would be changed.
That would give officers other options for reporting those complaints. Officers who violate the sexual harassment policy could be fired, he said.
Greenberg said there would not be an active search for a new full-time chief at this time. Gwinn-Villaroel came to Louisville from the Atlanta Police Department in 2021 along with former Louisville Chief Erika Shields, who hired her as deputy chief. Gwinn-Villaroel was named full-time boss in July 2023.
