LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Atlanta police chief who resigned last year after a high-profile police shooting was hired to command the department of Louisville, Ky., A city still recovering from the shooting that helped fuel the clamor for police reform that has become a defining factor of 2020.
The new chief, Erika Shields, will become the fourth police chief to head the Louisville Metro Police Department since Breonna Taylor’s death in March, Mayor Greg Fischer announced on Wednesday. She will replace the city’s acting chief, Yvette Gentry, when she takes office on January 19.
Mrs. Shields will arrive in a city filled with racial tension that has increased with the death of Mrs. Taylor and the subsequent protests, which have attracted thousands of people this summer and fall. Much of the anger surrounding Taylor’s death is still evident in Louisville today, nine months later, and activists said they would step up demonstrations in an effort to reinforce their demands for a transformation in the police force.
“Erika is definitely going into chaos,” said Milly Martin, a political and social activist from Louisville. “I hope she can handle it.”
Mrs. Shields served as the Atlanta police chief for three and a half years, but resigned two days after a police officer shot and killed Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old black man, in June. The officers responded to a call stating that Mr. Brooks was sleeping in his car in a Wendy’s parking lot.
After 40 minutes of interrogation and sobriety tests, the police tried to arrest Mr. Brooks, who hit one police officer, took another Taser’s gun, fired, and then ran away. One of the officers, Garrett Rolfe, drew a gun and shot Mr. Brooks as he fled, hitting him twice in the back.
Prosecutors said Rolfe then kicked Brooks while he was dying, while another policeman was waiting for him. Neither police officer provided first aid for more than two minutes.
Authorities fired Rolfe and accused him of murder and aggravated assault a week after the shooting. Your case is awaiting trial.
Mrs. Shields resigned the same day Rolfe was fired, saying in a statement at the time that she was stepping down “out of a deep and lasting love for this city and this department”.
She now arrives in a city that still faces an even more prominent police shooting – that of Ms. Taylor, who was killed during a raid on her apartment in March.
No police officer was charged with the death of Mrs. Taylor. A police officer, Brett Hankison, faces charges of putting Mrs. Taylor’s neighbors at risk when he shot his apartment. The Police Department announced last week that two other policemen would also be fired for their roles in the deadly operation.
In death, Ms. Taylor became an international icon to renew calls to reform police departments and hold police officers accountable when they commit unnecessary violence. This is especially apparent in Louisville, where the consequences of the deadly attack continue to reverberate throughout the city. Protesters, though fewer in number than during summer and autumn, still occupy a public square in their honor in the center of the city, and public officials continue to call for reforms and accountability measures that they claim to have been slow to happen.
Martin, the political activist, said he was disappointed that the authorities had appointed Shields, who was asked to step down by the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP after the Brooks murder.
“I don’t see how well it will fit in Louisville,” said Martin. “As a black community, why would we want a woman like Erika Shields coming to our city to be the next chief of police when, clearly, she couldn’t get the Atlanta police under control?”
Atlanta had several police shootings while Mrs. Shields served as chief, some of which led to reforms.
On one occasion in 2019, an Atlanta police officer was working with an FBI task force when the group tried to arrest Jimmy Atchison, 21, after a chase. Mr. Atchison eventually tried to surrender, but was shot in the face and killed by the Atlanta cop. The officer said at the time that Atchison was believed to be holding a gun.
None of the officers were using body cameras, and the shooting remains under investigation, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In response, Ms. Shields announced that the Police Department would no longer partner with the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration or the US Marshals Service because these agencies do not use body cameras.
Shields, Atlanta’s second female chief and the first openly gay, also gained some support among the progressives when she met with protesters who took to the streets after the assassination of George Floyd by the police in Minneapolis in May.
“I found it really admirable how she got into the crowd to try to better understand the pain and worry that people were feeling in Atlanta last summer,” said Matt Westmoreland, Democratic councilor from Atlanta.
Robert Friedmann, professor emeritus of criminal justice at Georgia State University, said that part of Shields’ ability to succeed in Louisville would depend on Mayor Fischer and the Metro City Council, and whether those elected officials would give the new chief the freedom to enact changes like she thinks better.
“If the mayor does not interrupt her position and her work, Louisville will be lucky to have her,” said Friedmann, adding that police chiefs often experience substantial political pressure, especially after high profile shootings and during periods of high crime rates. .
Like many cities, Louisville experienced a sharp increase in homicides and other crimes in the past year. The Louisville Metropolitan Police Department recorded 173 homicides in 2020, more than the previous two years combined.
Chris Wells, a Louisville activist who attended a meeting on Tuesday to promote a truce between the city’s rival gangs, said he doubted anyone outside Louisville could come in and fix the myriad of problems that only made it worse for black residents. city in 2020.
The selection process that preceded Wednesday’s announcement took place in secrecy, and Fischer declined to discuss the selection committee’s deliberations. City officials faced public criticism for failing to disclose the finalists list before making a selection, in view of calls for greater transparency after Taylor’s death.
“We had no choice,” said Attica Scott, a Louisville state representative who participated in several demonstrations of racial justice. “We were not engaged as partners, we were not engaged as a community – activists, protesters and leaders were left out.”
Gerald Griggs, the second vice president of the NAACP Atlanta chapter, said that, despite some reform efforts, Ms. Shields ended up being unsuccessful in preventing unnecessary acts of police violence. He said Brooks’s death was “the last straw that broke the camel’s back.”
“Hearing that she is now going to one of the epicenters of the issues surrounding police brutality is disheartening,” said Griggs. “I think it is a bad decision. I like her as a person, but as a manager of a police force, she has been unable to restrict the activity that gives rise to police brutality. “
He added that activists in Atlanta “have a soul mate with Louisville because we understand what it’s like to lose a member of the community,” and that Ms. Shields “can expect Atlanta activists to be in Louisville – we want to hold her accountable. “