LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville’s new police chief would be the first Black girl to guide the embattled division full-time, bringing recent hope to a drive underneath a federal consent decree after years of scrutiny following the police taking pictures of Breonna Taylor in 2020.

Louisville interim police chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel is formally taking the job of latest chief. Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg introduced Thursday that she was chosen after a nationwide search. The metropolis has gone by way of a number of chiefs and interim leaders because the demise of Taylor, a Black girl shot useless in a police raid gone awry.

Gwinn-Villaroel got here to Louisville from the Atlanta Police Department in 2021 alongside former Chief Erika Shields, who employed her as a deputy chief. Greenberg, who was elected mayor final yr, had stated in December that Gwinn-Villaroel would grow to be interim chief after Shields stepped down in January.

“This is a challenging job,” Greenberg stated at a information convention Thursday. “And over the last few months, it’s become very clear that the best person to do this work is already on the job.”

Gwinn-Villaroel thanked Greenberg for taking a “leap of faith” along with her hiring.

“I stand here today on the shoulders of so many who paved the way for me and opened the doors,” she stated.

Greenberg stated Gwinn-Villaroel confirmed management throughout a mass taking pictures at a downtown financial institution in April, when considered one of her officers was shot and wounded.

She faces challenges in recruiting new officers to a drive that has about 250 job openings, and restoring group belief after the U.S. Justice Department introduced in March that it had discovered Louisville police engaged in a sample of violating constitutional rights and discrimination.

That announcement, made by Attorney General Merrick Garland, adopted an investigation prompted by Taylor’s taking pictures. A Justice Department report discovered the Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government and Louisville Metro Police Department “engage in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives people of their rights under the Constitution and federal law.”

The report stated the Louisville police division “discriminates against Black people in its enforcement activities,” makes use of extreme drive and conducts searches based mostly on invalid warrants. It additionally stated the division violates the rights of individuals engaged in protected speech, like the road protests within the metropolis in the summertime of 2020 after Taylor’s demise.

Gwinn-Villaroel had served because the the third interim chief since Taylor’s demise. Former longtime chief Steve Conrad was fired in 2020. Former interim chief Yvette Gentry grew to become the primary Black girl to serve in that function when she was employed in 2020, following one other interim chief that had succeeded Conrad.

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