Justice Dept. to investigate Louisville police practices after Breonna Taylor's fatal shooting
Source: Washington Post
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Monday that the Justice Department will open a civil investigation into the Louisville Metro Police Department, 13 months after the shooting death of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman whose killing was among the flash points that sparked mass social justice protests across the nation last summer.
Garland said the federal “pattern or practice” probe will seek to determine whether the Louisville police have engaged in a history of abusive and unlawful tactics with little accountability — marking the second time in five days he has sought to use federal power to examine a local law enforcement agency’s use of deadly force. Last week, he said the federal agency will investigate the Minneapolis Police Department, whose former officer, Derek Chauvin, was found guilty of three murder charges in the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, last May.
Garland said the Louisville investigation will seek to determine whether the department engages in unreasonable force, unconstitutional searches and seizures and unlawful executions of search warrants on private homes. It also will examine how the Louisville police tactics impact racial groups, he said. The goal, Garland said, is to “ensure the policing policies and practices are constitutional and lawful.”
Taylor, 26, was shot and killed in Louisville in March 2020 after three plainclothes white officers forced entry to her apartment during an apparent investigation into drug dealing. Taylor’s boyfriend fired a warning shot, prompting the officers to respond with 32 shots, including six that struck Taylor. The Louisville Police Department fired one officer and the city agreed to pay Taylor’s family $12 million. During the mass protests that erupted after Floyd’s death, civil rights advocates often called for accountability for Taylor and numerous other Black people killed by police.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/merrick-garland-breonna-taylor-louisville-police-investigation/2021/04/26/822f756c-a6ab-11eb-8c1a-56f0cb4ff3b5_story.html
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