LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Louisville metro government is seeking a firm to conduct a full review of the city’s police department, including bias-free policing, use of force and training, Mayor Greg Fischer said Wednesday.
The winning bidder also must do listening sessions with those who are “most aggrieved by public safety activity” and make recommendations, the mayor said.
“It’s absolutely essential that the residents of Louisville, the people of Louisville, feel ownership in this process and they’re part of the review as well,” he said during a virtual news conference.
The request for proposals released Tuesday also requires a department-wide review of search warrant practices, a key part of the March 13 police raid on Breonna Taylor’s apartment. Police shot and killed Taylor, an emergency room technician, inside her home while executing a “no-knock” warrant.
There is no time frame for the work to be completed, according to the RFP.
Taylor’s killing and the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week have spurred six days of protests in Louisville. Fischer said Tuesday night’s protests were largely peaceful, and acting Louisville Police Chief Robert Schroeder said officers allowed marchers to stay on the streets after the 9 p.m. curfew because there were no signs of violence.
Louisville police or the National Guard also shot and killed business owner David McAtee around midnight Sunday. Louisville officers were not wearing body cameras during the incident, prompting Fischer to fire former Chief Steve Conrad about a month before his scheduled retirement.
Police released business surveillance video on Tuesday from inside McAtee's barbecue restaurant and on the wall of a neighboring business. The video has no audio and doesn’t provide a conclusive portrait of the events that night.
Schroeder claimed Tuesday that the video showed that McAtee fired a gun before he was killed. He said Wednesday that it’s possible that other video from nearby businesses could emerge.
The acting chief said it’s not known who McAtee was allegedly firing at.
Asked Wednesday if he believes the surveillance video supports the LMPD assertion that McAtee was firing at officers or the National Guard, Fischer said, "It does appear that's what took place, but I'm not jumping to any conclusions.”
Also on Wednesday, Fischer addressed one of the frequent demands from protesters: That he fire the officers involved in the Taylor shooting.
There is no body camera video of the raid, which involved undercover narcotics officers. Since then, police have ordered officers in such activities to wear the cameras. Fischer has suspended the use of no-knock warrants.
Fischer called that request a “real struggle of emotion versus law.”
He said Kentucky state law, which lays out the police union’s collective bargaining agreement, governs his ability to fire officers.
“If an officer is fired outside of that process, the officer can appeal, will appeal to get their jobs back immediately with back pay and then even damages and have a platform then to sue the city for wrongful termination,” Fischer said.
“So in the end what would happen would be: An officer would be removed for a very short period of time – anywhere from days to one or two weeks – be reinstated with back pay and then have a basis to sue the city.”
This story may be updated.
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