Justice Dept. Opens Policing Probe Over Breonna Taylor Death
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is opening a sweeping probe into policing in Louisville, Kentucky, over the March 2020 death of Breonna Taylor, who was shot to death by police during a raid at her home, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Monday.
Itβs the second such probe into a law enforcement agency by the Biden administration in a week; Garland also announced an investigation into the tactics of the police in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd. The attorney general has said there is not yet equal justice under the law and promised to bring a critical eye to racism and legal issues when he took the job. Few such investigations were opened during the Trump administration.
The 26-year-old Taylor, an emergency medical technician who had been studying to become a nurse, was roused from sleep by police who came through the door using a battering ram. Her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired once. A no-knock warrant was approved as part of a narcotics investigation. No drugs were found at her home.
The investigation announced Monday is into the Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government and the Louisville Metro Police Department. It is known as a βpattern or practiceβ β examining whether there is a pattern or practice of unconstitutional or unlawful policing β and will be a more sweeping review of the entire police department.
Sam Aguiar, an attorney for Breonna Taylorβs family, posted a celebratory message on social media shortly after the announcement.
βBoom. Thank you,β he wrote. Aguiar and other attorneys negotiated a $12 million settlement in September with the city of Louisville over Taylorβs death.
The investigation will specifically focus on whether the Louisville Metro Police Department engages in a pattern of unreasonable force, including against people engaging in peaceful activities, and will also examine whether the police department conducts unconstitutional stops, searches and seizures and whether the department illegally executes search warrants, Garland said.
The probe will also look at the training that officers receive, the system in place to hold officers accountable and βassess whether LMPD engages in discriminatory conduct on the basis of race,β among other things, he said.
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted last week of murder in Floydβs death, but no one has been charged in Taylorβs, though her case, too, fueled protests against police brutality and systemic racism.
Her death prompted a national debate about the use of so-called βno knockβ search warrants, which allow officers to enter a home without waiting and announcing their presence. The warrants are generally used in drug cases and other sensitive investigations where police believe a suspect might be likely to destroy evidence. But thereβs been growing criticism in recent years that the warrants are overused and abused.
Prosecutors will speak with community leaders, residents and police officials as part of the Louisville probe and will release a public report, if a pattern or practice of unconstitutional conduct is discovered, Garland said. He noted that the department has implemented some changes after a settlement with Taylorβs family and said the Justice Departmentβs investigation would take those into account.
βIt is clear that the public officials in Minneapolis and Louisville, including those in law enforcement, recognize the importance and urgency of our efforts,β Garland said.
Louisville hired Atlantaβs former police chief, Erika Shields, in January. She became the fourth person to lead the department since Taylorβs death on March 13, 2020. Longtime chief Steve Conrad was forced out in the summer after officers responding to a shooting during a protest failed to turn on their body cameras. Two interim appointments followed before Shields was given the job.
Shields stepped down from the top Atlanta post in June after the death of Rayshard Brooks, a Black man who was shot in the back by police in a restaurant parking lot. Shields remained with the Atlanta department in a lesser role.
Kentuckyβs lawmakers passed a partial ban on no-knock warrants last month. The measure would only allow no-knock warrants to be issued if there was βclear and convincing evidenceβ that the βcrime alleged is a crime that would qualify a person, if convicted, as a violent offender.β Warrants also would have to be executed between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.