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The investigation, according to Garland, will review the LMPD's policies and training practices and will look into the department's supervision of offices and systems of accountability.

\"As in every Justice Department investigation we will follow the facts and the law, wherever they lead,\" Garland said. \"If there is reasonable cause to believe that there was a pattern or practice of constitutional or statutory violations, we will issue a public report of our conclusions.\"

Garland said the department has already received a pledge of support from both the Louisville Mayor and the LMPD's chief of police.

The Louisville Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

\"PHOTO:
Mandel Ngan/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
PHOTO: US Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C on April 26, 2021.
>

This marks ​the Justice Department's second 'pattern or practice' investigation of a police force in the past five days alone.

Garland announced the department opened a civil investigation last week into whether the Minneapolis Police Department has a pattern of using excessive force in arrests or at protests and whether the department's officer's engage in discriminatory conduct.

\"It is clear that the public officials in Minneapolis and Louisville, including those in law enforcement, recognize the importance and urgency of our efforts,\" Garland said Monday. \"We come to them as partners, knowing that we share a common aim.\"

Garland has said repeatedly that he sees such probes as a potentially valuable oversight tool to ensure police accountability.

It indicates a significant shift from how the department wielded such powers during former President Donald Trump's administration. During those four years the department opened only one such investigation into the Springfield, Massachusetts, Police Department's narcotics unit, whose officers were found to have routinely used excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution.

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