Erika Shields, 53, was hired last month to lead the Louisville Metro Police Department in Kentucky, undertaking the outsize tasks of building public trust in the department nearly a year after the death of Breonna Taylor. But her selection has not been met with universal support, with much of the dissent driven by the baggage Shields, who is white, brings to the job.

She resigned last year as chief of the Atlanta Police Department hours after the high-profile police killing of a Black man. Still, the fallout from the man's killing was a distinguishing factor in why the panel said it chose her — impressed that she voiced a belief that policing needs a culture change.