Louisville police make major changes to policies in the wake of Breonna Taylor's death

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Louisville Metro Police Department is changing its policies on no-knock warrants and body cameras in the wake of the fatal police shooting of 26-year-old EMT Breonna Taylor.

Mayor Greg Fischer announced Monday afternoon that all no-knock warrants will now require approval from the chief of police or his designee before going to a judge for final signoff. This, he said, will provide "an additional level of scrutiny."

Additionally, Fischer said the department's body camera policy will be updated to require all sworn officers to wear cameras when serving warrants or in any situation in which they will identify themselves as police officers.

The changes address two major areas of concern relating to Taylor's death: That police were acting on a no-knock warrant, and that the officers involved were not wearing cameras.

Fischer, who announced the changes on Facebook Live, said the changes aim to increase transparency to build public trust.

Questions to Fischer's staff about if police would be required to wear body cameras in all instances moving forward and, if not, what circumstances would be exempt were referred to LMPD, which did not immediately respond.

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Jessie Halladay, a spokeswoman for the police department, said Monday afternoon that LMPD is “finalizing the language in both” new policies surrounding body cameras and no-knock warrants.

LMPD's current policy requires that officers activate their body cameras when responding to any call for service and "prior to engaging in all law enforcement activities or encounters." Any failure to do so must be reported to a supervisor and documented.

The policy makes exceptions for activities of federal task forces, the bomb squad, hostage negotiating team and SWAT command posts, as well as inside the youth detention center.

It also was not immediately clear if further changes to the "no-knock" policy are to be expected.

"There are lessons we can learn from this tragedy, or any policing experiences," Fischer said. "Please do not take (these) changes as the sum total of what could be changed."

A statement from Chief Steve Conrad said the changes are "an important part of moving forward."

"These are important steps to take in order to work collaboratively with our residents and try to establish stronger policies that take into account police safety and public safety," Conrad said in the statement.

Conrad said the new policy will allow the department to be more responsive to the concerns of the public and to ensure "situations that carry risk for both officers and the public have been properly vetted."

Records show police obtained a no-knock warrant before going to Taylor's home in the early morning hours of March 13.

LMPD officials said police knocked and announced themselves, but neighbors and Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, say they did not.

Believing the police to be intruders, Walker fired one shot, allegedly hitting Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly in the thigh.

The officers serving the warrant — Mattingly, Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove — were not wearing cameras the night of the shooting. Conrad has previously said that members of the Criminal Interdiction Unit do not wear body cameras.

Walker is charged with the attempted murder of a police officer.

Follow Tessa Duvall on Twitter: @TessaDuvall.

Follow Darcy Costello on Twitter: @dctello.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Breonna Taylor shooting: Louisville police make changes to policies