A $12 million settlement was reached by the city of Louisville and the family of Breonna Taylor in a wrongful death civil lawsuit.
Along with the monetary payment, several police reforms will be implemented, including hiring social workers to assist officers in certain calls, new drug testing rules, an incentive for officers to live in some low-income neighborhoods, and further scrutiny over search warrants.
Mayor Greg Fischer announced the changes at a press conference Tuesday with Taylor’s family, attorneys Lonita Baker and Ben Crump, and representatives from the ACLU of Kentucky and Until Freedom.
Breonna Taylor was shot eight times by officers who burst into her Louisville home using a no-knock warrant during a March 13 narcotics investigation. No drugs were found at her home.
Ben Crump, and co-counsels Sam Aguiar and Lonita Baker released the following statement about the settlement of the family’s civil suit against the City of Louisville:
“Nothing will ever bring back the precious life or fill the bottomless void left by the death of Breonna for her family or her community, which she served as a frontline emergency worker. But this settlement, with the accompanying police reforms, sends a powerful signal to the community that Breonna’s life and her death will have a long-term impact, hopefully preventing the loss of other Black lives.
“The significance is not just the historic $12 million settlement for the police shooting of Breonna Taylor, but also the comprehensive police reform agreed to by Mayor Greg Fischer and the Louisville Metro City Council.
“In the many cases I have represented involving police brutality — from George Floyd and Jacob Blake to Pamela Turner — I have never seen the level of responsive, comprehensive systemic reform that has occurred here under the leadership of Mayor Fischer in just six months. We credit Mayor Fischer and the city council for their tremendous leadership in bringing progress and reform out of tragedy.
“This is an important step toward justice more than six months after Breonna’s death. We continue to urge Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron to convene a grand jury and charge the involved officers immediately.”
Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, asked that those who have spent months protesting continue to say her daughter’s name.
“It’s time to move forward with the criminal charges because she deserves that and more,” Palmer said.
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