LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville’s police department is officially under the watchful eyes of the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Last March, the DOJ released a scathing report into the discriminatory patterns and practices by the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD). It found routine constitutional rights violations, disproportionately affecting Black citizens.
On Thursday, Mayor Craig Greenberg announced the city has now signed a "historic" consent decree with the DOJ to act as a roadmap for rebuilding trust with the community. Negotiations were ongoing for the last nine months.
Consent decrees are legally binding agreements and will require a list of reforms within LMPD and guide changes to policy and procedure for the foreseeable future. The agreements can also be quite costly, with cities spending millions of dollars each year and lasting for several years, all funded by taxpayers.
Greenberg said the 248-page agreement is unlike any other in America. He said it meets all of his non-negotiables and includes having clear performance measures for LMPD and a clear exit strategy.
He also said Louisville's consent decree caps the annual cost of the independent monitor.
The mayor expects LMPD to be in "full compliance" in five years or less, "unlike other cities who have seen consent decrees last for a decade or more."
According to Greenberg, LMPD began working on reforms immediately following the DOJ's report. The city banned no-knock search warrants, piloted a program to send behavioral health professionals to some 911 calls, expanded its community-based violence prevention programs, and enhanced support for officers' health and wellness.
“The Department of Justice saw the action we’ve already taken and our commitment to aggressively implement police reform. As a result of these improvements, we have a consent decree unlike any other city in America," the mayor said.
DOJ Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke said Louisville's community will continue to play an integral role in the implementation of the consent decree.
"We have every confidence that Louisville can and will satisfy the requirements of the decree. As Mayor Greenberg has shared, the city has not been standing by idly and has already taken significant reforms," she said. "At the end of the process, we expect that the Louisville police department will be a model police department and a shining example of constitutional policing."
LMPD Chief Paul Humphrey said having an independent monitor will give LMPD the opportunity to have its excellence confirmed for the community.
"But this has to be more than just words on a page. It is a promise to our officers and our professional staff that we are going to lead them and support them the right way without fail. It is a promise to our community that we are responsive to their needs and we will remain committed to creating an agency that values self-improvement," he said. "The dedicated men and women of LMPD are the driving force behind progress. With hard work, combined with strong leadership and community collaboration we will succeed."
Last week, Humphrey addressed concerns the city was moving too slowly with negotiations as Donald Trump prepares to take office. There was worry that under Trump's administration, consent decree negotiations may have ended altogether.
“We're not going to succumb to political pressure and do what Baltimore did, which is rush it at the end and have mistakes in it that I think both the Department of Justice and the city of Baltimore wishes they had not done," he said. "You drive a car for miles and miles -- nobody cares about how beautiful your driving was if you've run into a tree at the end of it."
