After the bungled raid that resulted in the death of Breonna Taylor, the Justice Department said on Wednesday that the Louisville Metro Police Department habitually uses excessive force and employs an "aggressive style of policing" against Black individuals.
The damning report provides a frightening picture of the discriminatory and abusive behavior of the Louisville police, reminiscent of behaviors prevalent in other southern communities during the civil rights period.
Breonna Taylor Case
In recent years, investigators uncovered a pattern of police commanders ordering research documenting disproportionate violence against Black Americans, then disregarding or suppressing the results or internal reports. Abuse extended to the treatment of the disabled and even victims of sexual assault.
DOJ determined that Louisville police utilize "unreasonable methods," such as unjustifiable neck restraints, police dogs, and tasers. The police agency executes search warrants without knocking and announcing, according to the report. On Wednesday, as per CNN, Attorney General Merrick Garland released the investigation's findings.
The department officials failed to control the "unacceptable" behavior, according to the report. Over the past six years, the police department has spent more than $40 million over the past six years to settle misconduct charges.
The Justice Department investigated the failed raid that resulted in Breonna Taylor's death. Four current and former Louisville police officers have been charged with civil rights offenses, including detectives who worked on the search warrant and the ex-officer accused of firing indiscriminately into her house, Local News 8 reported.
Kelly Goodlett, one of the former cops, pled guilty to conspiring to forge an affidavit for a warrant to search Breonna Taylor's house and to cover up the forgery by lying to investigators.
Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney representing Breonna Taylor's family and others impacted by police violence, stated that Taylor's family was "encouraged" by the justice department's findings.
DOJ Also Launches Probe For Tyre Nichols' Death
The justice department also launched a probe of "certain procedures and practices" of the Memphis police department in the aftermath of Tyre Nichols' murder at the hands of officers earlier this year.
Five Black cops have been charged with murder and other offenses in the Nichols case. Four fire department workers were also charged. On Tuesday, the top legal officer of Memphis informed the city council that over a dozen fire and police department workers had been terminated.
Authorities stated that 20 hours of additional footage and audio would be available. After Nichols's murder, civil rights advocates have demanded a review of the employment of specialist police units across the United States; the justice department will conduct such an investigation.
The officers implicated in Nichols' killing were former members of the dissolved Scorpion team, whose mission was to pursue violent offenders in high-crime neighborhoods.
Garland said that in Louisville, members of a Viper squad dedicated to combating violent crime "often conducted arbitrary car stops in Black communities." State and federal courts determined that the unit's officers violated residents' constitutional rights, as per The Guardian.
Related Article: Missing Georgia Man Found Dead, Rotting While Rolled in Carpet
@YouTube
