Justice Department opens Louisville policing investigation after Breonna Taylor killing

Attorney General Merrick Garland announces on April 26, 2021, that the Justice Department is opening a civil pattern-or-practice investigation of Louisville Metro Government and the Louisville Metro Police Department. The investigation follows the police killing of Breonna Taylor in 2020. The department examines whether Louisville police use unreasonable force, conduct unlawful searches, or engage in discriminatory policing. Federal investigators later find civil rights violations in 2023. The federal government investigates whether Taylor's death reflected broader unconstitutional policing practices rather than only one failed raid.