It's almost curfew season y'all! Towards the end of this month it'll make a year since protests started here in Louisville. Since nothing much has changed in that time I have the sneaking suspicion that we're in for another long, hot summer. Judging by the amount of gunplay going on around here, I'd doubt this city will require much of a spark. I've managed to miss being present at a shooting by no more than 2-3 minutes twice in less than a week (one I could have watched from my living room) and Sunday we managed three shootings in thirty minutes.
In case you're wondering, the '12' in the first photo is slang for police. I'll spare y'all from another long rant about the misdeeds of LMPD and just say this: they've got a LOT of dirty laundry. The Department of Justice recently announced that they were going to have themselves a look-see at LMPD and the city government, with the feds poking around it'll be interesting to see what comes to light.
It's not a criminal investigation so there's no chance of it resulting in charges over Breonna Taylor's killing (there's a separate FBI investigation that could however) but they're going to looking into how LMPD acts and operates. Speaking of how they operate, it's been interesting to watch lately. Back in January the city hired a new chief and since then there's been some noticeable changes. I'm not sure who is responsible for it but it appears someone in LMPD has read Gen. Petraeus's counterinsurgency manual (the cop I spoke with claimed/blamed the new chief). They also appear to be implementing it equally as effectively as the 'hearts and minds' campaign in Vietnam (For you history buffs out there, A Bright Shining Lie by Neil Sheehan is a very interesting look into that campaign).
Last year, as questions around Breonna Taylor's death grew and protests broke out, LMPD's then chief announced that he would retire in a month. A few days later, after it emerged that there was no bodycam footage of the killing of David McAtee, Mayor Fischer fired the chief. A little less than two weeks later, Erika Shields resigns as chief of police in Atlanta in the aftermath of the killing of Rayshard Brooks. Fast forward six months and Mayor Fischer hires Erika Shields as LMPD's new chief. New boss, same as the old boss. This is pretty much standard for how Metro implements changes (usually when they're forced to).
Local politics and money and the petty corruption that goes with that are inextricably linked with much of the shady stuff that goes down here. This is why I'm (very) slightly optimistic that the feds are poking around, there'll finally be people without local links doing the investigating. These things take years to finish and even longer to show results so it will be a while before I have anything positive to report.
Photos are all from the protests marking the one year anniversary of Breonna Taylor's killing on March 13.
That's... a lot of shootings. Really, way to many. Glad you're missing it and staying safe!
Yeah, there were a lot last year but we seem to be putting last year to shame. Last weekend was Derby weekend which is always wild but it's usually not quite so close to home. I'm sure the past year hasn't helped people's tempers any. Thanks, got my fingers crossed it stays that way!
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