Louisville community protests police brutality

By Jan Taylor

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Over 150 people rallied in downtown here on Father's Day, June 20 to protest police brutality following a march past the Louisville Police Headquarters and Internal Affairs Office.

Ron Daniels, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, and long-time activist Dick Gregory also joined the march.

Tensions with the police department have been escalating since January 1998 when Adrian Reynolds was beaten by the Louisville police and later died from a beating by corrections officers in the Jefferson County Jail.

One correction officer has been charged with murder and is scheduled to for trial in November.

Two other high-profile cases have caused further public outrage. Walter Barnes, who directed the YMCA for 40 years, was abused by police in Shively, a Louisville suburb. He was maced, handcuffed and jailed after being falsely arrested following a robbery in a restaurant where he was eating. Most recently, a young African American man, Desmond Rudolph, was shot 13 times by the police in his stalled Chevy Blazer. He later died of his wounds.

Witnesses to this incident stated the police did not give Rudolph an opportunity to exit the vehicle. Police initially justified the shooting by stating that the Blazer was moving toward them, but later changed their testimony to say that it was not moving.

These incidents have increased the call for an independent citizens review board and ignited a debate on the use of force by police officers.

"We have no confidence in the Police Department's Internal Affairs (IA) investigative process," said Rev. Louis Coleman, director of the Justice Resource Center. "We must have an independent body where citizens can take their complaints against abusive police officers."

Citizens Against Police Abuse, a coalition of community and religious groups, has been meeting with Mayor Dave Armstrong, the police chief and other city officials to demand justice in these cases.

The coalition protested the findings of an internal investigation of the Reynolds arrest by Louisville police made public in March. Mayor Armstrong then asked an Administrative Advisory Committee to review the IA investigation.

On June 9 the committee issued a report that expressed "major reservations" about whether the investigation was thorough, impartial and complete. In response the mayor ordered the investigation of Reynold's arrest reopened.

At a crowded public hearing on June 18, African American citizens recounted stories of police harassment and terror. Many were telling their story for the first time, including a well-respected Kentucky legislator.