ArcaMax

Five years ago this week, "the summer of protests" erupted. On May 26, 2020, in Minneapolis, protesters responded to George Floyd's murder. The previous day, a white police officer had kneeled on his neck. On May 28, 2020, protesters responded to the police killing Breonna Taylor. Taylor had been murdered March 13, 2020, but it wasn't until May 28 that the public heard the 911 call her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, made. The Louisville Courier Journal released it, shedding new light on what happened at the hands of Louisville Metro Police Department.

Five years later, on May 21, 2025, the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division announced the dismissal of the lawsuits against both cities. Consent decrees had already been signed in both Louisville and Minneapolis following thorough investigations conducted by the DOJ under the Biden administration.

These agreements were merely awaiting judicial approval when President Donald Trump took office in January. When that approval was denied, no one was really surprised. We all knew that once Trump took office these consent decrees were in jeopardy.

The silver lining here is that the mayors of both Minneapolis and Louisville have recognized the need for change and have stated their intention to move forward with their police reform promises.

In Louisville, where I live, that came in the form of Mayor Craig Greenberg's "Community Commitment: Louisville's Consent Decree." The document is similar to the initial DOJ agreement but comes in roughly 30 pages shorter, which means some things have been cut.

Last week I attended the Bishop's Table -- a community gathering that happens every Friday. It's where people stay connected and informed so they may take part in meaningful solutions for Louisville. On May 23, the Consent Decree and how the city will move forward was on everyone's mind.

LMPD Deputy Chief Emily McKinley addressed the 30-page cut when she spoke: "We eliminated language that would associate with the federal court or whatever the monitor had to do as far as reporting to the court," she said, "so that process has been cut out." However, a side-by-side look at the document shows that some sections pertaining to training and protocol have also been changed.

Louisville Urban League President Lyndon Pryor also spoke to the full house and encouraged everyone to take the time to read the mayor's new version of the consent decree themselves. "First and foremost," he said, "we've got to understand exactly what they are trying to put into place."

Pryor does seem cautiously optimistic, though. "To be very honest with you, the DOJ walking away in some ways is actually a gift," he said, "because under this administration, we were not going to get the type of oversight from the federal government that we needed."

With this "gift" comes community responsibility. Pryor was quick to remind the crowd that community stakeholders are to thank for much of what the decree will implement. Organizations such as the Louisville Urban League, Vocal Kentucky, the ACLU and the 490 Project have been pushing for specific, actionable change. "The mayor didn't just come up with those ideas on his own," Pryor said. "We have been planting those seeds."

Community members at every level will need to keep that pressure on our local elected officials. The job now becomes making sure community involvement and oversight is part of the process every step of the way.

Had the judge signed off on the consent decree, it would have given the community a legally binding document. Federal oversight brought a mechanism for accountability. Now that is up to the city of Louisville to implement. An independent monitor which the mayor has budgeted for is just one part of that. Louisville Metro Council can and should codify the mayor's new "Community Commitment" into law, thus making it an ordinance with mechanisms for accountability at the local level.

"That is incredibly important," Pryor stressed. "That needs to happen."

The urgency community members felt five summers ago in the wake of these horrific police murders must carry through for justice. Justice for Breonna Taylor. Justice for George Floyd. Justice for any person who has interacted with police officers and lost their life or their dignity. Reform should not happen one death at a time. It has to be a steady insistence that we do better because humanity deserves better. Remember what protesters chanted when demanding justice for Breonna Taylor. Keep those words in your head and hold them in your heart as we work to move our communities forward: "We won't let this go."

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Do you know anyone who's doing cool things to make the world a better place? I want to know. Send me an email at Bonnie@WriterBonnie.com. Check out Bonnie's weekly YouTube videos at https://www.youtube.com/bonniejeanfeldkamp. To find out more about Bonnie Jean Feldkamp and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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