KSP SEEKING BUDGETARY ASSISTANCE TO ENHANCE SAFETY

In the aftermath of Trooper Cameron Ponder’s murder, I was asked by the Interim Joint Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection to research safety enhancements that might provide additional protection for our agency. Specific interest was centered on bullet resistant laminates for automobile glass. I testified yesterday concerning our findings and the following is a summation of my recommendations.

The first distinction that must be made is between bullet proof glass and bullet resistant glass. In reality, no glass is truly bullet proof. Even glass that is used by the Secret Service and high level dignitary protection details can be compromised depending on the caliber of weapon and ammunition type. Thus our efforts focused on laminates that claim to provide a level of protection on side windows, not windshields. After contacting the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), no definitive information was gleaned regarding the validity of such a product. A national survey revealed that no police agency in North America was currently utilizing such a laminate. Ultimately, it was determined that this technology is in its’ infancy and has yet to be tested, developed and researched to provide any meaningful protection for our personnel.

The remainder of my testimony centered on safety proposals that might be of assistance to our protection. The following is a list of those issues:
• A state-of-the-art indoor firing range at our new academy campus for enhanced training. Since our inception in 1948, the Kentucky State Police has never owned or controlled its’ own firing range. This facility would allow us to operate and train under varying conditions throughout the calendar year. Estimated cost: $2.1 million dollars.
• An infusion of 250 marked cruisers into our fleet each of the next two fiscal years. Currently half of our marked fleet has over 100,000 miles, 136 of which have over 150,000 miles. Estimated cost: $7,145,000 each fiscal year.
• Flashlights mounted on our existing Glock side arms. This relatively new technology mirrors the same concept as we currently utilize on most of our shotguns and automatic rifles. Freeing up the officer’s weak hand during low light tactical situations would greatly enhance our safety. Our current holsters would have to be replaced adding to the cost of this proposal. Estimated cost: $179,000
• A two prong pay raise for all Chapter 16 sworn personnel. Troopers currently rank next to last on our neighboring state salary survey for beginning pay, and fifteenth when compared to starting salaries with in-state local law enforcement agencies. Commercial Vehicle Officers rank out even lower. To better compete in our recruitment and retention efforts, I have asked for a $4000 across the board raise for all sworn personnel. Estimated cost: $7,840,000 annually.

Additionally, our pay scale goes relatively flat after reaching the ‘Senior Trooper/Officer’ status. I have proposed a series of longevity raises to rectify this situation. These incremental 5% raises would occur at the 10, 15, and 20 year mark, mirroring and building on the existing senior trooper statute. These proposals will help us attract and retain experienced personnel as we move into the future. Estimated cost: $300,000-$400,000 per fiscal year.


It should be noted that these requests are in our current budgetary proposals and are exclusive of any across the board raises that we and our Chapter 18 personnel may receive. It is also independent of the proposal to increase the Kentucky Law Enforcement Foundation Program Fund (KLEFPF) from $3100 to $4000 annually of which I fully support.

A CHRISTMAS TRADITION

I’ll have to admit that I like fruitcake…good fruitcake. Despite the bad reputation and jokes about this strange culinary tradition of being used for door stops, I welcome the taste each holiday season. Admittedly, it may be the most re-gifted present on the planet. I seldom eat a piece of fruitcake that I don’t think of a story a friend conveyed to me years ago.

It seems that his Aunt Martha made fruitcakes each year to give as presents to family and friends. Dozens of these cakes were carefully wrapped, tied off with red ribbons, and distributed as the Christmas holiday neared. Most of the family pretended to like the fruitcakes to appease the old lady but never ate a bite of them during family gatherings. Aunt Martha never inquired or pressed the recipients for reports of their flavor, perhaps sensing that many became souvenirs or book ends. Regardless, the tradition continued for years as she delivered them with a huge smile and a proud embrace.

Eventually, Martha’s health declined and she lost her sight, forcing her to move into a nursing facility. During a visit by her nephew, she reminisced about how much she missed making her famous fruitcakes and handing them out to relatives. She confided in him that the tradition had gone back for two generations, remembering how she had helped her grandmother as a little girl in the kitchen during the holidays. She told him that she knew that a lot of folks don’t like fruitcake but that wasn’t what was truly important. With tear filled eyes, she confided that the tradition of “cooking up some love and sharing it with people” meant the most to her.

Her nephew found the long lost recipe and picked up all of the ingredients at the supermarket that afternoon. The next day, Aunt Martha’s assistance and knowledge provided the guidance needed for his unskilled hands to bake and wrap the annual tradition. Aunt Martha beamed as she handed out the cakes with newfound energy, despite her frail condition. At her funeral a few months later, relatives conversed and traded stories about her love and generosity. Copies of the fruitcake recipe were handed out with many of the family vowing to carry on the tradition.

Despite some of the anti-police sentiment that we are currently witnessing across the country, it’s comforting to know that the Kentucky State Police tradition of helping those in need continues. It may take many forms such as raising 232,011 pounds of food for hungry families in our ‘Cram the Cruiser’ campaign or taking needy kids shopping in the ‘Shop with a Trooper’ program. Our presence and influence continues to be felt and appreciated across the Commonwealth because of your generosity and kindness. We continue to be deeply committed in our mission to make rural communities a safer and better place to live, regardless of what’s going on in the rest of the world. That unwavering sense of community involvement brings me stability, comfort, and joy this Christmas season, much like Aunt Martha’s fruitcake.

A Son's Remembrance of the Badge

Early in 2010, I received a call from our Supply Commander, Captain Jeff Mayberry (retired). Jeff advised me that he had found an interesting artifact regarding KSP history and wanted to share it with me. Later that afternoon, he stopped by my office and produced a crumpled brown envelope with a faded handwritten inscription that read Trooper M. Brady. The envelope contained a badly burned Kentucky State Police badge, unit #480. I instantly recognized the badge as belonging to Trooper Mack Brady who was killed in the line of duty on November 9, 1966. It seems that the badge had been placed in a safe after his death and had never been looked at or accounted for since that time. Trooper Brady, a seventeen year veteran, was in route to a domestic dispute when he swerved to avoid hitting another vehicle that had failed to yield the right of way. His cruiser ran off the road and hit a bridge abutment, exploding in flames. He perished in the blaze, unable to escape his new cruiser that he had just picked up that morning. The badge remained in my desk drawer for several months as I agonized over how to present this to the family. Many of you know that Mack’s son, Ed Brady, was a career trooper with us and is now the Sheriff of Henderson County. I had known Ed for many years and finally decided that the badge should be given to him in a private setting. In May 2010, I drove to Henderson and met with Ed in his office. After some small talk, I advised him that I had a very special gift for him. I produced the badge wrapped in simple white tissue paper. Ed sobbed emotionally after unwrapping it, asking me to tell him the full story of the badge’s origin. After I recounted the story, Ed told me about that fateful day. He was fifteen years old and remembers vividly his dad getting called back out to answer a domestic violence call. He assured him that he wouldn’t be gone long and would return later after supper. News of his death devastated his family and affected them forever. Ed stated that he always wondered how the badge presented to his family at the funeral was in such pristine condition after that horrific crash. It became clear that the Command Staff at the time substituted a new badge, not wanting to add to the family’s grief by presenting them with his original badge in such poor condition. As Ed and I both cried, he told me that I would never know how much this meant to him and his family. I told him that as part of his KSP family, I knew the sacred significance that lay behind this badge.

Ed quickly apologized and stated that of course he realized that I understood. As he held the badge gingerly in his hands, he softly stated that it was hard to believe that this was resting less than four inches from his dad’s heart when he died. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation which designated May 15th as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which that date falls as Police Week. Let us never forget those who have went before us and those who continue to serve to protect home and family across the Country. Top Photo: Trooper Mack Brady. Bottom Photo: Henderson County Sheriff Ed Brady.