Surrounded by protestors on their 81st straight day in downtown Louisville, Representative Attica Scott announced Sunday that she put forth a bill to ban the use of controversial no-knock search warrants across Kentucky. In honor of Breonna Taylor, Breonna's Law was filed five months after the 26-year-old Black woman was fatally shot by police in her apartment just before 1:00 am on March 13th, 2020. 

A no-knock warrant intends to protect police when advanced notice would endanger the officers or evidence. Though there are no good statistics about how often this is used in Kentucky, it is not rare. The people of Kentucky do not feel this request to eliminate no-knock warrants is anti-police but rather pro-protecting citizens.

When Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers teamed with Senator Gerald Neal, it was clear that no-knock warrants would be substantially limited in state law and used only in rare instances. Louisville Mayor Greg Fisher suspended no-knock warrants two weeks before a nationally significant Metro Council decision.  

The Department of Justice weighed in on this, saying, "Although officers need not to take affirmative steps to make an independent re-verification of the circumstances already recognized by a magistrate in issuing a no-knock warrant, such a warrant does not entitle officers to disregard reliable information clearly negating the existence of exigent circumstances when they actually receive such information before execution of the warrant."

The only advantage of a no-knock warrant is the surprise. These warrants are typically sought when there is reasonable cause to believe the occupants may offer significant resistance or have ways to destroy evidence.

Disadvantages of no-knock warrants include the increased complexity of the warrant service (such as coordinating movements of entry teams), and the use of specialized weapons and ordnance ('flash-bangs' or 'breaching rounds'). A significant disadvantage is the possibility that the 'dynamic entry' (breaking the door) may trigger a fight response from the occupants. 

This has been a significant controversy, especially in cases where the SWAT or warrant service team mistakenly targeted the wrong house. These warrants can become dangerous for the police carrying them out and the civilians in and around the home. Kentucky needs to work with its citizens to find a way to end no-knock warrants.