U.S. Justice Department Launches Investigation Into Louisville Police Following Breonna Taylor’s Death

Over a year after Breonna Taylor was shot to death by Louisville police during the raid, the U.S. Justice Department has revealed that a probe into the city’s police department will soon occur. Attorney General Merrick Garland mentioned Taylor by name during Monday’s announcement and stated that the investigation would access if Louisville has a “pattern” of excessive force.

Garland said

that the probe “will assess whether (Louisville Metro Police Department) engages in a pattern or practice of using unreasonable force, including people involved in peaceful expressive activities,” continuing “it will also assess whether LMPD engages in discriminatory conduct based on race, or fails to perform public services that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The investigation will include a comprehensive review of the Louisville police department policies and training.”

The Louisville Metro Police Department has faced backlash for a series of incidents over the past few years. In September 2017, records revealed that the department members assisted ICE agents in enforcing immigration policy, which isn’t their job. In 2017, a Louisville police detective charged the wrong McDonald’s employee with theft and made a false arrest despite video surveillance evidence.

But no other instance has caused more anger and pushback against Louisville police than the March 2020 shooting death of Taylor, 26. While with her boyfriend Kenneth Walker at the early morning hours of March 13, officers allegedly attempted to serve a warrant regarding Taylor’s ex-boyfriend and used a battering ram to knock down her door.

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Unsure of who was trying to enter Taylor’s home, Walker fired one shot. The Louisville police officers responded by shooting Taylor eight times, killing her. Walker was uninjured.

Garland states that if the investigation finds “reasonable cause to believe there is a pattern or practice of constitutional or statutory violations,” the Justice Department will make a public report and “aim to work with the city and police department to arrive at a set of mutually agreeable steps that they can take to correct and prevent unlawful patterns and practices.”