Lexington mayor issues no-knock warrant moratorium; council pledges action on police
Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton issued a moratorium on no-knock warrants on Monday, less than five days after Louisville banned the controversial practice outright.
No-knock warrants allow police officers to enter a home without knocking or ringing a bell. The practice has come under scrutiny after the police-involved killing of Breonna Taylor in Louisville. Officers were serving a no-knock warrant at the time of Taylor’s death.
Gorton said no-knock warrants can now only be used if it’s a life-or-death situation.
Lexington Police Chief Lawrence Weathers has said no-knock warrants, which require a judge’s signature, have not been used in Lexington in the past 12 months. Those warrants must go through several layers of review. Weathers announced in early June no-knock warrants would go through an additional level of review before a warrant went to a judge for sign off.
Gorton said she made the decision to issue the moratorium after consulting Weathers.
The Louisville Metro Council voted unanimously Friday to ban no-knock warrants.
The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council will hold a special meeting Tuesday where no-knock warrants and police oversight will be discussed.
The Planning and Public Safety Committee will discuss the police collective bargaining agreement and other issues, the council announced earlier on Monday.
“In addition, the committee will discuss 8 Can’t Wait reform, a national call for action intended to regulate use of force,” said Councilwoman Jennifer Mossotti, the chairwoman of the Planning and Public Safety Committee. “This will be a fact-based review of these important issues.”
8 Can’t Wait calls for banning chokeholds or strangleholds and requiring officers to intervene in excessive force used by other officers. Among other measures, 8 Can’t Wait also advocates requiring de-escalation and issuing a warning before shooting.
Vice Mayor Steve Kay said at a press conference Monday the council will also set a second special meeting devoted entirely to public comment on police accountability. The date for that meeting will likely be set during Tuesday’s meeting.
“Council is committed to taking action from those two meetings and all that we have heard ... directly and indirectly from our community in the last two weeks to fashion concrete next steps,” Kay said.
Councilman James Brown represents the 1st Council District, which includes traditionally black neighborhoods on the city’s north and east sides.
“As someone who was born and raised in Lexington, I can attest that there are inequities and injustices that exist in Lexington,” Brown said. “We hear you. We are committed to working. We are committed to addressing areas where we need improvement and also reinforcing areas where we are doing well.”
Protesters who attended Sunday night’s march against police brutality criticized the city of Lexington and Gorton for not doing more to address concerns about police oversight since the protests began more than two weeks ago.
In a statement Monday, Gorton said she understood those frustrations.
But Gorton said racism is a systemic problem that will take time to address.
“Everyone is impatient for change, including me,” Gorton said. “While I understand change won’t happen overnight, I am determined to make many improvements quickly, and to continue to make immediate changes as opportunities present themselves. We need long-term, systemic change.”
Also on Monday, Gorton announced the appointment of a new committee that will make additional recommendations on how to fix long-standing racial inequalities in health care, education, business and criminal justice.
Roszalyn Akins, an educator and the director of BMW Academy, and Dr. Gerald Smith, a University of Kentucky history professor and pastor of Pilgrim Baptist Church, will co-chair the group.
Akins and Smith will make recommendations for the group’s make up, membership and name.
Part of Tuesday’s meeting agenda will include explaining what parts of police disciplinary procedures are controlled by the collective bargaining agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police Bluegrass Lodge 4 and what is controlled by state law. One of the police contracts is set to expire June 30. Negotiations on that contract have not started.
Councilwoman Angela Evans said the issues surrounding police discipline are complicated. The council does not negotiate the collective bargaining agreement. Those negotiations are between the administration and the union. The council can only vote a contract up or down.
Evans, who has served as a board attorney for various state licensing boards, said she would like to see police disciplinary actions mirror teacher disciplinary procedures, which are more transparent to the public.
“But that would mean a change in state law,” Evans said.
Under that state law, no information about a police officer’s alleged misconduct can be released until the disciplinary proceedings are finalized.
Kay said there may be some time during Tuesday’s meeting for public comment. The council has been meeting virtually for the past two months because of coronavirus-related restrictions on large group gatherings. Since the council began to use Zoom for its meetings, there have only been a handful of people who have commented during the meetings.
People who do not have Internet access or use Zoom can still give public comment at the 1 p.m. Planning and Public Safety Meeting, city officials said Monday.
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This story was originally published June 15, 2020 at 2:18 PM.
