Actions

The Model City: How police reform failed in Breonna Taylor's hometown

The Model City: How Police Reform Failed In Breonna Taylor's Hometown
Breonna Taylor
Posted

Louisville, Kentucky, the city now known for the police killing of Breonna Taylor, once made ambitious promises to transform its police department and mend its relationship with the Black community.

Just five years prior, Louisville considered itself a model city for police reform.  

In a joint Newsy and Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting investigation, insiders and documents reveal the systemic barriers and choices made by city leaders and the Louisville Metro Police Department that led to its failure to meaningfully change how it policed. 

Reporters spent the last year digging into the promises made in 2016, when the Department of Justice chose Louisville as one of 15 cities that were going to lead the rest of the nation in building a better, safer, more equitable model of policing.

Thousands of pages of documents and dozens of interviews with current and former law enforcement officials, community leaders, politicians and residents show how Louisville went from a national leader in policing to the face of a national movement protesting the police.

Newsy is the nation’s only free 24/7 national news network. You can find Newsy using your TV’s digital antenna or stream for free. See all the ways you can watch Newsy here: https://bit.ly/Newsy1

,

Weather

Daily Forecast

View Hourly Forecast

Day

Conditions

HI / LO

Precip

Wednesday

01/07/2026

Partly Cloudy

58° / 44°

5%

Thursday

01/08/2026

Partly Cloudy

50° / 37°

22%

Friday

01/09/2026

Sunny

54° / 35°

5%

Saturday

01/10/2026

Mostly Sunny

58° / 37°

3%

Sunday

01/11/2026

Partly Cloudy

56° / 38°

5%

Monday

01/12/2026

Mostly Sunny

58° / 39°

6%

Tuesday

01/13/2026

Sunny

59° / 41°

4%

Wednesday

01/14/2026

Sunny

61° / 42°

5%