WaPo: “The Louisville Metro Police Department engaged in systemic civil rights abuses and excessive-force misconduct in the years leading up to the 2020 police killing of Breonna Taylor, according to the findings of a federal investigation released Wednesday that is likely to require the department to undergo sweeping changes.
The Justice Department’s probe found that officers carried out unlawful and unconstitutional policing, including conducting searches that were based on invalid warrants, executing search warrants without knocking and announcing their presence, making unlawful stops, and targeting those who spoke out against abusive policing during mass protests or even day-to-day interactions.
The Louisville police department has for years “practiced an aggressive style of policing that it deploys selectively, especially against Black people, but also against vulnerable people throughout the city,” the report said. “ … Failures of leadership and accountability have allowed unlawful conduct to continue unchecked. Even when city and police leaders announced solutions, they failed to follow through.””