In March 2020, 26-year-old Breonna Taylor was shot and killed in her Louisville home by members of the Louisville Police Department. The officers had been conducting a no-knock warrant obtained to investigate reported links to a local drug dealing operation. Later investigations would find layers of protocol breaches, corruption, and no reason to actually investigate Taylor's residence. Taylor's residence was also never searched.
After police breached the apartment, they were fired upon by Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker. Walker testified that the police did not announce themselves and he believed that they were instead intruders. Officers responded by firing 32 rounds into the apartment, hitting Taylor six times. After finding multiple breaches of police protocol in subsequent investigations, the LMPD fired Myles Cosgrove. Cosgrove was the officer deemed to have fired the shot that killed Taylor. Taylor's death was just one of many that sparked a wave of anti-police protests in 2020.
Cosgrove's Hiring Defended By New Employer
According to multiple sources, Myles Cosgrove has now found a new position in law enforcement. He will now serve as a member of the Carroll County Sherriff's Department. Carroll County sits about 51 miles northeast of Louisville. Furthermore, the Sherriff's Department has defended the hiring. Sherriff Ryan Gosser argued that Cosgrove had faced no legal consequences regarding Taylor's death. Furthermore, Gosser defended Cosgrove's experience and stated it would be a benefit to the department. "We're going to give him a chance," Gosser said. Cosgrove had appealed his firing numerous times but had never been reinstated. Most recently, his appeal was rejected and his firing upheld was in February.
However, this is the latest in a long history of cops being rehired. A 2022 Reuters report found that police officers rarely faced punishment for misconduct. Additionally, those who are punished are overwhelmingly rehired. In December 2022, a police officer fired from the San Antonio PD for giving a homeless man a feces sandwich was hired in a town 30 miles away. Furthermore, the officer who killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014 has been rehired twice in recent years. Public outcry about Cosgrove's hiring has been swift and fierce. However, his new employer appears intent on retaining him for now.
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