Source: Luke Sharrett / Getty
The former Louisville, Kentucky police officer who shot and killed Breonna Taylor in 2020 has found another job – in a county not too far away.
According to reports, Myles Cosgrove was hired by the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office. Cosgrove, a former Louisville Metro Police Department officer, was fired from the force in January 2021 for not turning on his body camera during the raid that took Taylor’s life and violation of use-of-force policies. Chief Deputy Rob Miller confirmed and defended the hire. “We think he will help reduce the flow of drugs in our area and reduce property crimes,” Miller said. “We felt like he was a good candidate to help us in our county.” Carroll County is an hour northeast of Louisville.
Miller pointed out that Cosgrove (who began work on April 20th) not being charged criminally played a factor in his hiring. Another factor was the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council’s vote last November to not revoke Cosgrove’s state peace officer certification, allowing him to apply for law enforcement jobs elsewhere in Kentucky. The situation has angered the communities in Louisville and Carroll County, with residents planning a protest of Cosgrove’s hiring. “There will be opinions on both sides of the equation.” Miller said, adding: “We’re going to give him a chance.”
Cosgrove was one of seven officers who pursued a no-knock search warrant on the EMT’s apartment in March 2020. Medical examiners from the F.B.I. confirmed Cosgrove’s bullets took the 26-year-old’s life, as he fired his weapon 16 times. “The shots you fired went in three different directions, indicating you did not verify a threat or have target acquisition,” said then-interim LMPD Chief Yvette Gentry at the time. “In other words, the evidence shows that you fired wildly at unidentified subjects or targets located within the apartment.”
“The way in which he can go and get a job in the same field should be illegal. For a typical citizen, we aren’t able to re-enter certain fields, if we’re fired from them. That carries with you,” Black Lives Matter Louisville head organizer Chanelle Helm said of the hiring. The phenomenon is not new – police officers who have violated policies with their conduct see themselves being rehired across the country at high rates, according to a recent report from Reuters.
Source link
