The city of Louisville has received the first draft of the Consent Decree from the Department of Justice and has begun review and negotiations of the document. The parties to discuss and negotiate include Mayor Greenberg’s office, The Jefferson County Attorney’s office, Louisville Metro Police Department, and the U.S. Department of Justice.
The DOJ advised the city government to keep the draft of the Consent Decree confidential.
“I am pleased to see progress being made on the Consent Decree as we continue to work closely with the DOJ on this effort, which I view as an urgent priority for Louisville,” Mayor Greenberg said in an emailed statement released Tuesday afternoon. “My administration and LMPD will continue to keep Louisville informed about the work being done to reform and improve how our police department operates. These efforts are essential to make Louisville safer, stronger and healthier for all our people. The DOJ report was a painful picture of LMPD’s past, but it has pointed us in the right direction for our future as we make LMPD the most trained, trusted and transparent police department in America.”
“As Chief, I have full faith in my fellow officers who bravely serve our city and I see their commitment to protecting our community and building and repairing trust with those we serve,” said LMPD Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroe in the city’s statement. “We are continuing to work closely with the Mayor’s office and DOJ to identify how we can continue to move forward and better serve the people of Louisville.”
Gwinn-Villaroe has had ethics issues of her own in recent months after giving false testimony in a civil trial about a 2021 police chase.
The ACLU released a statement regarding the Consent Decree. The organization acknowledged that LMPD has had a “long history of inflicting violence and trauma on Black Louisville residents.” It was this violence that resulted in the killing of 26-year-old Breonna Taylor when they executed a no-knock warrant. The incident sparked months-long protests, LMPD retaliation against protesters, and raised national attention on the issue of police violence across the county.
“As the negotiation phase of the consent decree process begins, the ACLU of Kentucky is once again amplifying the importance of meaningful community involvement in the process,” said ACLU-KY Executive Director Amber Duke in an emailed statement. “There is a very long road ahead for broad-scale reform of LMPD’s policies, practices, and training. Including the voices and ideas of directly impacted community members in this process is the only way we can hope for any level of healing from the horrific abuses suffered.”
The ACLU, along with the Legal Defense Fund and law firm Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel LLP filed a complaint against the city of Louisville to challenge LMPD’s use of force to silence protesters and journalists. The ACLU says the case is ongoing and Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 11 a.m. there is a “hearing on plaintiff’s motion for class certification” in Courtroom 2 at the U.S. Courthouse for the Western District of Kentucky in Louisville.”
The news of the consent decree and cases surrounding the protests and murder of Breonna Taylor continue to develop.
This article appears in LEO Winter A&E Issue.
