Ludlow Police Chief Looks to Bring Change to Policing in NKY With New Program

Written by Haley Parnell, LINK nky reporter

Scott Smith holds many titles. He is the Ludlow City Administrator, the Ludlow Police Chief, and he owns the NKY Martial Arts Academy in Ludlow.

Smith is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt with 26 years of experience. Jiu-Jitsu is a martial arts and combat sport based on ground fighting and submission.

It teaches lessons in self-defense and how to protect yourself. Learning self-defense and not being dependent on a weapon is what Smith is trying to implement with his program that he’s offering specifically to police departments around Northern Kentucky.

Smith sent out emails to every department around the area offering them access to his gym seven days a week, whatever program they wanted to train in – not exclusively to Jiu-Jitsu – for only $6 a month. Smith’s only request was that their agencies sponsor them because he wanted them to take responsibility.

“I’ve had officers, and some of them are sergeants and stuff like that, guys that really care that work the streets,” Smith said. “I’ve had guys from Covington, Erlanger, all these other departments reach out to me and say, ‘man, I wish we could do this; I’m going try to get it up to my chain of command.'”

A minimum of 10 people from each department is required for the pricing of Smith’s program; however, there are exceptions for smaller departments such as Fort Thomas.

Smith was already training Warren and Kenton County Swat teams before starting his program.

“If you’re not doing everything you can, you’re doing the minimum,” Smith said.

This program is being implemented to help with police reform. Smith said after the initial training to become a police officer, there are no other classes required to keep up with the fitness and skills needed for the job and that officers often have to revert to grabbing their guns and shooting because they can’t fight. 

“No one is immune to being on the news,” Smith said. “99% of the time, you have to put your hands on someone.”

Smith has already implemented this change in his department. After becoming chief, he had a gym built in their station, and officers could work out for up to an hour of their shift. He also requires them to train hand to hand four times a year, along with the four times they are required to practice in the gun range.

If any first responder wants to attend NKY Martial Arts Academy classes, Smith said he offers a discounted price for first responders.

“I would lose money if everyone took me up on my offer, but I want to lose money,” Smith said. “Because that means people would be doing the program.” 

Photo: Provided (Scott Smith)