Justice Department, Louisville have deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor death
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The U.S. Department of Justice and the city of Louisville have reached an agreement to reform the city’s police department following a police-initiated investigation. fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylorofficials said Thursday.
The consent decree, which must be approved by a judge, follows a federal investigation that found the Louisville Police Department engaged in a pattern of violating constitutional rights and discriminating against the Black community.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said the “historic substantive ordinance” will build on and accelerate this transformational police reform we have already begun in Louisville. He noted that “significant improvements” have already been made since Taylor’s death in March 2020. That includes a city law banning the use of “no-knock” warrants.
The Department of Justice report released in March 2023 stated that the The Louisville Police Department “discriminates against Black people in its enforcement activities,” uses excessive force and conducts searches based on invalid arrest warrants. It also said the department is violating the rights of people involved in protests.
“This conduct harmed community members and undermined public trust in law enforcement, which is essential to public safety,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who heads the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This consent decree marks a new day for Louisville.”
Once the consent decree is approved, a federal official will monitor the city’s progress.
The Justice Department under the Biden administration has opened 12 civil rights investigations into law enforcement agencies, but this is the first to reach a consent decree. The Justice Department and the city of Springfield, Massachusetts announced an agreement in 2022, but the investigation into that police department was opened under President Donald Trump’s first administration.
City officials in Memphis have taken a different approach, challenging the need for a Justice Department consent decree to implement reforms in light of a federal investigation launched after the killing of Tire Nichols that found Memphis officers routinely use unwarranted violence and disproportionately target Black people. Memphis officials have not decided to ultimately agree to a consent decree, but have said the city can make changes more effectively without committing to a binding pact.
It remains to be seen what will happen to efforts to reach such agreements between cities and the Justice Department once President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House. The Justice Department limited the use of consent decrees under the first Trump administration, and the Republican president-elect is expected to once again radically overhaul the department’s civil rights priorities.