LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville representatives are in Washington this week negotiating federally mandated police reform with the U.S. Department of Justice.

The DOJ ordered the city into a consent decree — a federal mandate for police reform — that will require the Louisville Metro Police Department to make major changes. Mayor Craig Greenberg said members of his administration and LMPD are working on the specific language of the agreement now.

"They are in Washington, D.C., working all day every day to move that process forward," Greenberg said Tuesday. "Our hope is to finalize an agreement by early fall — I would like to say right now — and we are working with diligence to make that happen."

Last March, the DOJ came to Louisville and released a scathing report into the city's police department with its findings from a years-long investigation prompted by the March 2020 police killing of Breonna Taylor.

In the report, the DOJ said they believe LMPD and Metro Government engaged in practices that violated the U.S. Constitution and federal law for years, including excessive use of force and searches based on invalid search warrants.

The DOJ ordered Louisville's police department to enter a consent decree. The oversight agreement sets tangible requirements for change, metrics to measure improvement and timelines to achieve them. It's all approved by a federal judge, legally binding and then overseen by a independent monitor who must regularly report progress or any problems to the public.

Negotiations started in February.

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