Louisville, Ky., city and police officials agreed to reform policing to address civil rights issues that led to Breonna Taylor’s 2020 death and other civil rights violations.
“Nearly five years after Breonna Taylor was shot and killed in her own home in the middle of the night by Louisville Metro Police Department officers, the Justice Department has secured an agreement to enact significant systemic reforms to policing in Louisville,” Attorney General Merrick Garland Thursday in a news release.
“This agreement addresses the serious violations of federal law that we uncovered during our pattern or practice investigation and puts the city of Louisville and its police department on a path to lasting reform,” Garland said. “We are committed to honoring Breonna Taylor through our work to implement the agreement and make Louisville a better and safer place for all of its residents.”
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said the city will fully comply with the consent decree within five years.
“This consent decree agreement will ensure our officers are committed to protecting the constitutional rights of residents while improving public safety and preventing violent crime for our entire community,” Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg told media Thursday morning.
The 248-page consent decree was filed with the U.S. District Court for Western Kentucky in Louisville and includes the signatures of Greenberg, Louisville Police Chief Paul Humphrey and U.S. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke.
“In the wake of Breonna Taylor’s tragic killing, the people of Louisville fiercely advocated for racial justice, policing reform and accountability,” Clarke said. “City residents demanded that they receive the constitutional policing that they rightly deserve.”
Clarke said Louisville city and police officials “have committed to addressing the violations of the Constitution and federal law we found during our investigation and to making Louisville a place where the police respect everyone’s rights.”
The consent decree requires Louisville police to us appropriate de-escalation techniques and resolve incidents without using force whenever possible.
The decree also requires police to include specific, individualized and accurate facts that establish probable cause when applying for search warrants.
The city police department must uphold people’s rights and reduce unlawful racial disparities while enforcing laws and respond to and investigate sexual assault, domestic violence and sexual misconduct in a thorough, timely and bias-free manner.
Louisville also must operate an outreach team that does not include police officers when responding to situations involving homeless people that do not involve behavioral health crises or violations of the law.
The consent decree also requires the police department to solicit community input regarding policing to ensure it meets the community’s needs and recruit and hire those who make the police force more diverse.
When allegations of officer misconduct are raised, the police department must conduct a full, fair and efficient review and hold officers accountable when misconduct is confirmed.
The Louisville Police Department also must create and use evaluation tools that assess the department’s fulfillment of the consent decree.
The DOJ and Louisville city and police officials negotiated the consent decree after the Justice Department in March 2023 announced the findings of a federal investigation into allegations of civil rights violations in the wake of Breonna Taylor’s unintentional shooting death by a Louisville police officer while she was inside her apartment on March 13, 2020. (UPI)