KY officials call for federal civil rights investigation into Harless shooting
Laurel County officials are calling for a federal civil rights investigation into the 2024 police shooting of Douglas “Doug” Harless, just days after a grand jury declined to indict any of the London police officers involved.
Judge-Executive David Westerfield and his administration penned a letter to the U.S. attorney’s office, FBI and U.S. Justice Department Civil Rights Division Monday asking for a probe into whether the London Police Department and city officials violated Harless’ civil rights, and, if so, whether those violations give rise to federal criminal liability.
London police shot and killed Harless, 63, in his Lily home Dec. 23, 2024, while serving a warrant for stolen lawn equipment. Based on statements by officials and city police logs, law enforcement mistook Harless’ address for another. When they kicked down his door and witnessed him holding a pistol, they responded with fire.
Since then, the original search warrant and supporting affidavit have still not been made public. Police department body camera use had been suspended a year before, leaving no footage of the fatal encounter. It also remains unclear why city police were operating outside the London city limits.
That lack of transparency has generated fear and distrust in Laurel County, county officials said Monday. The undersigned officials said they respect the grand jury process, but there are serious concerns about officer conduct the night Harless was killed.
“The limited information available regarding this incident leads us to believe that something of this nature could happen again to anyone in this community, and justice, as we have witnessed in this case, may fall under question,” the letter states.
Officials asked for the FBI “to conduct or expand” an inquiry into police actions that night. The city is already under investigation by the FBI due to alleged misuse of a federal crime information database.
The stolen lawn equipment London police were investigating in 2024 reportedly belonged to Westerfield, but there is no evidence he played a role in the investigation.
In addition to Westerfield, Sheriff John Root, Jailer Jamie Mosley, County Clerk Tony Brown, Property Valuation Administrator Don McFadden, Coroner Doug Bowling, County Surveyor Chris Hubbard and magistrates John Crawford, Danny Smith, Bobby Overbay, Jeff Brook, Billy Oakley and Richard Bales signed the letter.
The officials said they sought and received approval from the Harless family before submitted the request to federal law enforcement Monday.
Harless’ daughters are pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit against the city and police department in which they allege civil rights violations, including the former maintenance worker’s Fourth Amendment protection against search and seizure, as well as 14th Amendment rights to due process and equal protection under the law.
The special prosecutor appointed by the state attorney general to oversee the Harless investigation told the Herald-Leader Feb. 20 that he had presented all his findings to the grand jury and that the criminal case was effectively closed, barring any additional evidence.
None of the police officers involved in the shooting have been formally identified, but members of the grand jury considered murder, manslaughter and reckless homicide against a detective on the force, according to a copy of the no true bill the Herald-Leader obtained.
Even though the case the Kentucky State Police investigated has closed, that does not foreclose a federal examination of the civil rights implications of what happened that night, county officials wrote Monday. The family and county deserve that, they said.
“Douglas Harless lost his life on December 23, 2024, in what appears to be a preventable and serious error, and the community of Laurel County has spent over fourteen months being denied the full truth of how and why that error occurred,” officials wrote.
This story was originally published February 23, 2026 at 6:28 PM.
