The Louisville Metro Police Department has agreed to enter into a consent decree with the federal government after the Department of Justice found that Louisville police officers routinely engage in discriminatory practices.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for civil rights, told reporters that “the Louisville Police Department can do better” and that Louisville residents “deserve policing that is fair and non-discriminatory.”
She added that authorities in Louisville “breached the public’s trust and discriminated against Black people through unjustified stops, searches and arrests.”
The Justice Department also found that Louisville officers consistently engage in conduct that violates constitutional rights and federal law.
For two years, the DOJ shadowed officers, participated in ride-alongs with law enforcement, watched thousands of hours of body camera footage, reviewed documents regarding the LMPD’s conduct and spoke with city leaders, judges, lawyers, community members and advocacy groups to address deficiencies within the department.
Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters that the police department used “excessive force, including unjustified neck restraints and the unreasonable use of police dogs and tasers.”
During the press conference, Clarke maintained that Louisville’s law enforcement also took part in discriminatory practices against its Black residents.
“Black drivers were almost 50 percent more likely to be searched than whites,” she stated. “LMPD charges Black people at higher rates than white people for the same misdemeanor offenses.”
Black Lives Matter board member Cicely Gay told theGrio “policing does not keep” the Black community safe.
“It took two years for the DOJ to conclude what we already knew — that the patterns and practices of the Louisville Police…
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