The Louisville Metro government on Tuesday announced a $12 million settlement package with the family of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman who was shot in her own home by police officers in March. The settlement also includes a series of police reforms.
The big picture: The settlement is the largest ever paid by the city’s police, per the Louisville Courier Journal. It will close out the wrongful death lawsuit filed in April by Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer. Other legal proceedings related to Taylor’s death have not yet concluded.
The settlement contains reforms on the approval process for and execution of search warrants, the hiring of social workers at LMPD, and a commitment to increase drug and alcohol testing of officers involved in any shooting, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced Tuesday.
- Other changes include encouraging officers to perform at least two paid hours a week of community service in the communities they serve and housing credits for officers to live in certain low-income parts of the city.
Background: Police entered Taylor’s home while investigating men they believed to be selling drugs out of a house 10 miles away. They shot her at least eight times after her boyfriend, who was awakened by the incident, fired his gun in self-defense.
- Taylor’s death sparked protests across Louisville and the country, as well as widespread calls on social media for the arrests of the officers involved in the shooting. It has become a focal point of the Black Lives Matter movement.
What’s next: Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron is still investigating the incident, along with the FBI, which opened a probe in May.
- A grand jury enlisted in Jefferson County will hear the criminal case, per the Courier Journal, and decide whether to charge the officers involved in the shooting.
Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to reflect that Taylor was not sleeping when she was shot by police.
