LOUISVILLE (WHAS11) – The Louisville Metro Police Department concluded their professional standards review into the September 2018 traffic stop of Dr. Kevin Cosby and Chief Steve Conrad said it was not the result of racial profiling.
Conrad said the stop was appropriate but two officers, Patrick Norton and John Sholar, did violate standard procedure during the stop.
LMPD said Norton was found to have violated standard operating procedure because his body camera was pointed at an upward and diagonal direction during the traffic stop. LMPD said McClinton needed to manage the direction the body camera.
The second violation involved Norton not identifying himself during the traffic stop, not explaining the reason for the traffic stop—despite being asked to do so, and not asking if Cosby had a reason for the traffic infractions.
Officer Sholar did not set his body camera to recording mode prior to initiating the traffic stop. Sholar had been disciplined before for a violation of this nature in July 2018.
Conrad said Norton was ordered to undergo counseling. Sholar served a suspension without pay for eight hours for his violation.
Dr. Cosby is a reverend at St. Stephen Church and the president of Simmons College. He recorded the traffic stop on his cell phone. The West Louisville traffic stop sparked a community conversation about bias policing.
Cosby said in a letter to the department, he believed he was being pulled over for driving a nice car in West Louisville.
