LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A federal judge in Kentucky has dismissed Louisville\u2019s proposed settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over police reforms after the department withdrew its support of the plan earlier this year.<\/p>\n
The Justice Department announced in May<\/a> it was canceling proposed consent decrees with Louisville and Minneapolis that sought to curb police racial bias and abuses after the killings of George Floyd<\/a> and Breonna Taylor<\/a> that spurred nationwide protests in the summer of 2020.<\/p>\n U.S. District Judge Benjamin Beaton wrote in a Dec. 31 ruling that \u201cthe responsibility to lead the Louisville Metro Police Department in compliance with federal law must remain with the city\u2019s elected representatives and the people they serve.\u201d<\/p>\n A judge in May dismissed Minneapolis\u2019 proposed consent decree, which places a federal officer in charge of tracking the progress of reforms laid out in the agreement.<\/p>\n Justice Department officials under President Joe Biden’s administration conducted a multiyear investigation in Louisville prompted by the fatal shooting of Taylor and police responses to public protests in 2020. A draft of the investigation was released in early 2023, alleging the Louisville Police Department \u201cdiscriminates against Black people in its enforcement activities,\u201d uses excessive force and conducts searches based on invalid warrants.<\/p>\n New DOJ leadership accused the Biden Justice Department of using flawed legal theories to judge police departments and pursuing costly and burdensome consent decrees.<\/p>\n The consent decrees with Louisville and Minneapolis were approved by the Justice Department in the final weeks of the Biden administration, but the settlements had to be approved by a judge.<\/p>\n Beaton wrote that his ruling \u201cdoesn\u2019t prevent the parties from undertaking the hard work of reform themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n The city has initiated some reforms since Taylor\u2019s death in March 2020, including a city law banning the use of \u201cno-knock\u201d warrants. The warrants were typically used in surprise drug raids. The city also started a pilot program that sends behavioral health professionals to some 911 calls.<\/p>\n The city also paid a $12 million wrongful death settlement to Taylor\u2019s family.<\/p>\n