LOUISVILLE — In May 2024, the U.S. Justice Department retracted its findings of unconstitutional policing in Louisville, Kentucky, and dropped plans for federal oversight of the Louisville Metro Police Department. The city responded by adopting its own police reform plan based on the agreement previously negotiated with the Biden administration and hiring an outside monitor to oversee implementation.

The Justice Department’s 2023 investigation had found that Louisville police routinely discriminated against Black residents, inappropriately used police dogs against people, and failed to properly respond to individuals experiencing mental health crises. Federal scrutiny of the department began after the March 2020 killing of 26-year-old Black medical worker Breonna Taylor during a no-knock raid at her apartment.

“I made a promise to our community, and we are keeping that promise,” Mayor Craig Greenberg said. Following the withdrawal of federal oversight, Louisville expanded a pilot program to redirect some mental health calls away from police and send mental health specialists instead. The mayor’s office also began exploring ways to pair mental health professionals with officers on such calls, a measure the Justice Department had recommended in 2023.

As of 2025, however, the city sends either mental health professionals or police to mental health-related calls but does not deploy them together on critical incidents, including those involving weapons. In March 2025, Louisville police fatally shot 28-year-old Katelyn Hall in her apartment while she was experiencing a mental health crisis. The shooting remains under investigation. Police records obtained by ProPublica show that in early 2025, Louisville officers were still engaging in problematic policing practices previously identified by federal investigators, including failing to thoroughly review officers’ use of force.

“What we do as a city, we make things look good on paper, but then in the application of it, it plays out so differently,” said Shameka Parrish-Wright, a Louisville city council member and mayoral candidate. Ed Harness, the city’s first-ever inspector general, noted the absence of legal enforceability in the current reform effort. “There’s no enforceability by law. Now whether reform can happen voluntarily, with compliance and supervision by elected leaders, kind of is the question that will be answered in Louisville,” Harness said.