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Outgoing Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Erika Shields says the she resigned to avoid being fired.She sat down with WLKY to talk for the first time since her resignation.”I was, yes, I was, I was not considered for the chief’s job under Mayor-elect Greenberg,” Shields said. “So I chose to resign, I guess, in lieu of being terminated.”When mayor-elect Craig Greenberg announced Shields’s resignation two weeks ago, he would not say whether he asked her to resign or not.”When new mayors begin their term in Louisville, and across the whole country, it is typical, I would say, for new chiefs to come on board and so this is an opportunity for our city, for our police, for our city government, for all of us to move in a new direction,” Shields said.While it was cut short, Shields said she is proud of her tenure as chief.”And I think that’s why it’s really important to me that the narrative not be driven by the politics,” she said. “The last two years, the men and women here have worked so hard and we’ve made so many improvements and that needs to be acknowledged.”Shields says that officer morale is up and crime is down from its peak during the pandemic.After the death of Breonna Taylor and the civil unrest of 2020, reforms have been implemented. But Shields says the next chief must work hard to further that progress.”The systems and the culture was so broken here, it’s not realistic to think in two or three years things are going to flourish,” she said. “It takes time. And if I would say there’s one thing, you have to afford a police department autonomy and that is the most dangerous part of the political spectrum.”During her sit down, Shields said that current Mayor Greg Fischer gave her leeway.”I think whoever comes in needs to be strong and they need to stay removed out of whatever’s asked of them and do the correct thing,” Shields said. “You have to do the correct thing. And that often means butting heads with others who are, it may mean, in the administration.”Her resignation takes effect on Jan. 2, 2023.In a statement, mayor-elect Greenberg said he will be naming an interim chief “very soon,” and that he respects and admires the “hardworking LMPD officers.”