LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Louisville Civilian Review Board work group held another meeeting yesterday to discuss a number of matters, including the creation of an Office of Inspector General and accountability following the death of Breonna Taylor. The virtual conversation lasted roughly an hour.

The work group, which consists of 33 community members, is tasked with developing the best structure for a Civilian Review Board that would provide an added layer of independent review to Louisville Metro Police Department disciplinary matters. Mayor Greg Fischer (D) announced the group's formation May 27, and since, the group has met five times. 

During last night's meeting, one of the work group's most important items was creating an Office of Inspector General, who would conduct investigations prompted by the board in addition to audits of the police department.

An Inspector General from Philadelphia, who served for over a decade, offered her expertise to the group.

“This is just a diagram of what happens in the Inspector General’s office. There are administrative cases, criminal cases, and the compliance cases, but in the end, we always come back with policy recommendations to try and make sure this doesn’t happen again. As you can see, there is a substantial overlap once someone is convicted criminally, they are also usually disciplined or fired in the department in which they work," Amy Kurland said. 

The group's members also discussed holding officials accountable in light of recent events like the death of Breonna Taylor.

“There’s a lot of hurdles for a lot of practical reasons and how you pass legislation and that translates to other folks out in the state. What strategy you would employ to get that done so the legislative process itself is very difficult. It was designed to be difficult and it’s difficult to pass anything. Something like this you can’t get passed unless leadership is involved for sure," said State Sen. Gerald Neal (D-33).

Legislation to create the Office of Inspector General is on the table, and Fischer supports the office's creation. Some members see it as valuable and a necessity that could make all citizens feel like their best interest is being served.

“We saw confidence in city government. The complaints from city employees increased regularly. They came to know the office and the deterrence was important because we were constantly sending the message from the top to the mayor on down that we would not tolerate fraud and misconduct," Kurland said. 

The next meeting is set to take place in August.