No-knock search warrants have been banned in Louisville following a unanimous vote of the Metro Council on Thursday night. The ordinance...
No-knock search warrants have been banned in Louisville following a unanimous vote of the Metro Council on Thursday night.
The ordinance has been called Breonna's Law, named after 26-year-old EMT, Breonna Taylor, an unarmed black woman who was fatally shot by Louisville Metro Police inside her home in the early hours of March 13.
Police had been attempting to serve a search warrant with a no-knock clause at her South End apartment as part of a drugs probe when the fatal incident occurred.
Officers entered the apartment and were fired upon by Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who believed a robbery was in progress. Police returned fire, striking Taylor eight times, who had been sleeping in bed moments before.
Following the council's vote Thursday, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer vowed to sign Breonna's law 'as soon as 'it hits his desk'.
'I suspended use of these warrants indefinitely last month, and wholeheartedly agree with (the) council that the risk to residents and officers with this kind of search outweigh any benefit,' Fischer wrote on Twitter.
Breonna Taylor, 26, pictured, died in the early hours of March 13 after cops raided her home in Louisville. An incident report on her death released this week by Louisville police, three months after the shooting, is virtually blank and provides inaccuracies and inconsistencies
Before the vote was held, Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer, told the council that all her daughter 'wanted to do was save lives'.
'So it's important this law passes,' Palmer continued, 'because with that, she'll get to continue to do that, even in her death.'
Councilwoman Jessica Green called the legislation the most important she's ever worked on.
'We are committed to making sure that she lives on forever,' Green said, according to the Courier Journal.
In addition to no-knock orders being banned, the ordinance also requires that any officer serving a search warrant must wear a body camera.
Officers must activate the cameras at least five minutes before the warrant is actioned and they must not turn it off until at least five minutes after it has concluded.
Metro Council President David James presented Palmer with a plaque after the vote, declaring Thursday as 'Breonna's Law Day', to ensure her 'name will never be forgotten.'
The landslide vote comes just 24 hours after Louisville Police released a virtually black and inaccurate incident report from the fatal shooting of Taylor, nearly three months after her death.
The Louisville Metro Council voted unanimously to pass Breonna's Law, with Councilwoman Jessica Green (pictured third from left, front row) calling the legislation the most important she's ever worked on
The document offers few details of the March 13 incident that spurred days of protests in the city, while some of the information included is incorrect or differs from other police reports.
Among the inaccuracies is the claim that the 26-year-old had no injuries after she was shot eight times by narcotics detectives who entered her apartment with a no-knock warrant while she slept.
The report also states that the officers did not force their way into her home. However, crime scene photos showed police used a battering ram to break into her home.
Before the vote was held, Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer, told the council that all her daughter 'wanted to do was save lives'
The incident report was filed on the night of the shooting but was only released today - three months after her death - as her family push for further transparency about the events that led to her death.
The report has sparked further outrage among protesters and increased the calls for the officers involved to be charged with her death.
Mayor Fischer called the released report 'unacceptable'.
'It's issues like this that erode public confidence in LMPD's ability to do its job, and that's why I've ordered an external top-to-bottom review of the department,' he said in an statement.
'I am sorry for the additional pain to the Taylor family and our community.'
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the family, shared the report on social media and said 'I'm appalled by LMPD's nearly BLANK incident report from the investigation of Breonna Taylor.
'It lists "NONE" under Breonna's injuries... She was SHOT 8 TIMES!! It took 3 months to produce and release this report publicly – and THIS is what we get?!' he added.
The report dated March 13, the day of the shooting, cites a police-involved death investigation and identifies Taylor as the victim.
Despite being four-pages long, it provides little information on the incident.
Louisville police released an incident report of the death of Breonna Taylor on Wednesday, three months after her fatal shooting. It stated Taylor had no injuries despite being shot by police eight times in one of several inaccuracies in the otherwise blank report
The three officers involved in the shooting were named in the police report - Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove. In the notes section, it said 'PIU investigation
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the family, said he was 'appalled'
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer called the released report 'unacceptable'
The three officers in the case - from left, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Detectives Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove - have not been charged in the shooting and have been placed on administrative leave
It redacts Taylor's street number, apartment number and date of birth — all of which have been widely reported.
Hours after the shooting, Louisville Police gave more details about the incident during a media briefing.
Officials said the officers knocked, announced themselves and then forced their way into Taylor's apartment, where they were met with gunfire.
Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired once and struck an officer identified as Jonathan Mattingly.
Walker said he had fired as he believed the house was being broken into and called 911 when he heard the detectives enter, not knowing who they were.
Yet there is no mention of Walker in the incident report on Taylor's death released this week.
The report also has a box to check for forced entry, which was checked 'No', in contrast with the media briefing hours after Taylor's death that said an announcement was made and then forced entry was used.
It also said 'none' in a space for the victim's injuries despite Taylor being hit by eight gunshots.
In the notes/narrative section, the report simply said 'PIU investigation,' which is the department's Public Integrity Unit, and details no further information on the shooting death or Walker's arrest for shooting an officer.
Taylor's boyfriend Kenneth Walker, pictured, who has a license to carry, fired his gun during the raid thinking they were being robbed. He hit an officer and the cops fired back killing Taylor. There was no mention of Walker in the incident report released this week
Taylor - who had no criminal record and worked for two local hospitals - was killed after police fired at least 20 rounds into the home, according to a lawsuit filed by her family. Civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump said he is 'appalled' at the incident report on Taylor's death
The police department acknowledged there were errors in the report in speaking to the Courier-Journal but claimed that they were due to the reporting program creating a paper file.
'Inaccuracies in the report are unacceptable to us, and we are taking immediate steps to correct the report and to ensure the accuracy of incident reports going forward,' the statement said.
The three officers involved in the shooting and named in the police report - Mattingly, 47, Brett Hankison, 44, and Myles Cosgrove, 42 - have been placed on administrative reassignment while the shooting is investigated.
This week the detective who requested the warrant, Joshua Jaynes, also was reassigned.
Despite calls to do so, Mayor Fischer has stated that the city does not have the capacity to fire the officers until the investigation into Taylor's death is complete, due to a contract with the Fraternal Order of Police.
Taylor's family have since launched a lawsuit for wrongful death.
Police say the search was part of a drugs investigation, but the suit says none were found at the home.
Taylor's lawyers add that the main suspect, Jamarcus Glover, was already in custody at the time of the raid.
Taylor and Walker had been sleeping in bed when police raided their home and they thought they were being burglarized, the suit says.
It claims that Mattingly, Hankison and Myles Cosgrove entered their apartment shortly before 1am, without announcing themselves.
Walker, who has a license to carry, fired his gun thinking they were being robbed, his attorneys say.
Taylor - who had no criminal record and worked for two local hospitals - was killed after police fired at least 20 rounds into the home, according to the lawsuit.
Det. Joshua Jaynes, the officer who applied for the 'no-knock' search warrant that led to Breonna Taylor's death, has been placed on administrative reassignment, Louisville police announced Wednesday. The mayor says no officer can be fired until the investigation is over
Police say no bodycam footage is available but the family's attorney claimed in a new filing Wednesday that some of the officers involved were previously assigned cameras.
'We've got body camera footage from Brett Hankison in other situations and then we got a citation that shows that Myles Cosgrove just two months before this while serving a search warrant for the Criminal Interdiction Unit was wearing a body camera,' attorney Sam Aguiar said.
The calls for the dismissal of the officers and for them to be charged with Taylor's death grew louder from May 28 after the 911 call made by Walker when the police entered was released.
Walker was initially charged with attempted murder of a police officer, but that charge was dropped by prosecutors in May. The officer was shot in the thigh and has since recovered.
Local media outlet, the Courier-Journal, is also suing the police department, seeking the immediate release of the file on the investigation into Taylor's shooting.
Police have said it can't be released as the investigation is ongoing.
The FBI has opened is own investigation into Taylor's death.
No comments