LOUISVILLE, KY — The US Department of Justice and the city of Louisville have reached an agreement to reform the city’s police force. The fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylorofficials said Thursday.
The consent decree, which must be approved by a judge, follows a federal investigation that found Louisville police engaged in a pattern of constitutional rights violations and discrimination against the black community.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said he will build on and accelerate the “historic content ordinance,” a transformative police reform we’ve already begun in Louisville.” He noted that “significant improvements” have already been implemented since Taylor’s death in March 2020. This includes “no-call” orders. a city law prohibiting its use.
A Justice Department report released in March 2023 said The Louisville police department “discriminates against black people in its enforcement activities”, uses excessive force and conducts searches based on invalid warrants. He also said that the department violates the rights of the people who participate in the protests.
“This behavior has harmed members of the community and undermined public confidence in law enforcement, which is vital to public safety,” said 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 agreed upon, a federal official will monitor the city’s progress.
The Justice Department under the Biden administration opened 12 civil rights investigations into law enforcement agencies, but this is the first to reach a consent decree. The Department of Justice and the city of Springfield, Massachusetts announced a settlement in 2022, but the investigation into that police department was opened during the first administration of President Donald Trump.
Memphis city officials have taken a different approach in the wake of a federal investigation launched after the killing of Tire Nichols, pushing against the need for a Justice Department consent decree that says Memphis officers use unreasonable force and disproportionately target black people. Memphis officials haven’t decided whether to finally agree to a consent decree, but say the city can make changes more effectively without adopting a binding treaty.
It remains to be seen what will happen to efforts to reach those agreements between the cities and the Department of Justice after President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House. The Justice Department under the first Trump administration scaled back its use of consent decrees, and the Republican president-elect is expected to overhaul the department’s priorities on civil rights.
