DOJ Review Declares Louisville Police Use Excessive Force, Invalid Warrants Against Black People

A wide-ranging federal investigation finds that Louisville P.D. routinely excessive force and unlawfully discriminate against Black people.

DOJ results of Louisville Metro and the city's police department have been announced. Nearly three years after the killing of Breonna Taylor, the 90-page investigation has concluded, first beginning in April 26, 2021. At the time, the investigation included a "comprehensive review of LMPD policies, training, and supervision, as well as LMPD’s systems of accountability, including misconduct complaint intake, investigation, review, disposition, and discipline," per Courier Journal.

On Wednesday (March 8), a press conference was held in downtown Louisville, Kentucky where it was revealed that the police department routinely excessive force and disproportionately target Black residents. The city has reached an agreement to establish a reform and resolve the constitutional violations found by federal investigators.

"For years, LMPD has practiced an aggressive style of policing that it deploys selectively, especially against Black people, but also against vulnerable people throughout the city," the report states, per NBC News. "LMPD cites people for minor offenses, like wide turns and broken taillights, while serious crimes like sexual assault and homicide go unsolved."

"Some officers demonstrate disrespect for the people they are sworn to protect," the report continues. "Some officers have videotaped themselves throwing drinks at pedestrians from their cars; insulted people with disabilities; and called Black people 'monkeys,' 'animal,' and 'boy.' This conduct erodes community trust, and the unlawful practices of LMPD and Louisville Metro undermine public safety."

Kentucky state Rep. Keturah Herron, a Democrat who urged Breonna's Law, which restricts the use of no-knock warrants in the state, said that the review against Louisville police officers was long overdue.

"The things that are found in this investigation are things that the community has been saying not since Breonna Taylor, but for decades in Louisville,” Herron said. “To be able to finally get some type of acknowledgment that LMPD has been terrorizing the black community specifically but then also those with disabilities … it’s a relief. But this is really now where the work starts over again.”