History of racist policing has Louisville community members skeptical of LMPD reform
By Alexis Mathews
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LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (WLKY) — Community members have mixed feelings about the future after the Department of Justice uncovers Louisville Metro Police Department’s discriminatory behavior towards the Black community.
The dark practices were brought to light in the 90-page report by DOJ following a two-year investigation.
It found officers treat Black people differently than white people in their encounters, notably through unreasonable force, searches, and arrests. It’s a pattern of policing that Simmons College history professor Dr. Jemar Tisby says dates to slavery.
“The information in the report simply validates what Black people in Louisville have been saying for decades,” Tisby said. “The ways that law enforcement was used to control black bodies and circumscribe Black freedom and unfortunately that’s a pattern that continues up until today.”
But, community members say the root of the issue is racism, which they believe requires a major transformation to make change a reality and reimagine public safety in Louisville.
“We tend to do what’s easy, quick, and band-aid,” said Khalilah Collins, director of the justice organization DOVE Delegates. “I know we can do better, but I’m also just like, but are we going to do better.”
Community members say the report and the DOJ’s recommendations are only the beginning to reform LMPD, and while some are optimistic, others say history keeps them skeptical.
“I was grateful to see the mayor and chief making commitments, but we’ve heard commitments before,” said the Rev. Charles Elliott Jr.
Elliott, who marched with Martin Luther King, describes his harmful treatment while fighting for racial justice during the Civil Rights as mirroring the modern-day experience of Black citizens in Louisville at the hands of LMPD.
“I had to march and protest, got beat, went to jail, and some of us got killed,” Elliott said. “I did not know that I would live long enough to see them come out and be honest and confess that they have been doing us wrong unjustly.”
Tisby says the department and the city being under federal watch should be a motivator to make deeper change, but cautions that the report should be a starting point and not a final product.
“We need to look at wealth distribution, public education, a whole variety of factors that lead to these kinds of practices, and what’s being recommended right now is just the bare minimum,” he said.
Community members said adding to their concern is that some of the officers who carried out this behavior are still on the force.
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