Kentucky State Police
Kentucky State Police | |
---|---|
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Abbreviation | KSP |
Agency overview | |
Formed | 1948 |
Preceding agency |
|
Employees | 1,713 (as of 2004)[1] |
Jurisdictional structure | |
Operations jurisdiction | Kentucky, USA |
File:KY - State Police Posts.png | |
Kentucky State Police Post map | |
Size | 40,434 square miles (104,720 km2) |
Population | 4,241,474 (2007 est.)[2] |
General nature | |
Operational structure | |
Headquarters | 919 Versailles Road, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601 |
Troopers | 1,100 (as of 1 July 2015)[1] |
Civilians | 777 (as of 2004)[1] |
Agency executive |
|
Parent agency | Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet |
Special Units | Special Operations West and East Drug Enforcement Cannabis Suppression Aircraft Support Vehicle Investigations Commercial Vehicle Enforcement |
Facilities | |
Posts | 16 |
Website | |
http://www.kentuckystatepolice.org/ |
The Kentucky State Police (KSP) is a department of the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, and the official State Police force of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, responsible for statewide law enforcement. The department was founded in 1948 and replaced the Kentucky Highway Patrol. The department's officers are called and addressed as State Troopers and its nickname is The Thin Gray Line.[3]
History
In 1948, the Kentucky General Assembly enacted the State Police Act, creating the Kentucky State Police and making Kentucky the 38th state to create a force whose jurisdiction extends throughout the given state. The act was signed July 1 of that year by Governor Earle C. Clements. The force was modeled after the Pennsylvania State Police, and Kentucky State Police troopers were trained by the PSP, just like North Carolina State Highway Patrol troopers. The force was an outgrowth of the Kentucky Highway Patrol, and inherited the equipment and officers from that organization.[4] Guthrie F. Crowe served as the force's first commissioner.[5]
Posts
Kentucky State Police troopers operate from 16 regional posts:[6]
West Troop
- Post 1: Mayfield
- Post 2: Madisonville
- Post 3: Bowling Green
- Post 4: Elizabethtown
- Post 5: Campbellsburg
- Post 12: Frankfort
- Post 15: Columbia
- Post 16: Henderson
East Troop
- Post 6: Dry Ridge
- Post 7: Richmond
- Post 8: Morehead
- Post 9: Pikeville
- Post 10: Harlan
- Post 11: London
- Post 13: Hazard
- Post 14: Ashland
The KSP Division of Commercial Vehicle Enforcement operates from 6 regional offices:[7]
West Troop
- Region 1 Henderson
- Region 2 Louisville
- Region 3 Georgetown
East Troop
In addition, the Special Enforcement Troop includes the following branches:
- Cannabis Suppression
- West Drug Enforcement
- East Drug Enforcement
- Aircraft Support
- Vehicle Investigations
- Special Operations
Organization
Uniforms of the KSP
Troopers wear the standard French gray KSP uniform, consisting of a short sleeve and long sleeve Flying Cross by Fecheimer button down shirt, charcoal gray trousers with a 1" black stripe down the side, and patent leather chukka high top shoes. The badge is worn on the left side of the shirt, with the Trooper's name plate directly below on the left breast pocket flap. Officers wear their rank insignia on the shirt collar while all other troopers wear their rank, if applicable, on their shirt sleeves. A white crew neck T-shirt is worn under the uniform shirt, per Kentucky uniform regulations. Unlike other police forces, the KSP requires a tie with long sleeve shirts, and the tie is to be tucked into the uniform shirt. The campaign hat is synonymous with troopers of the KSP. It is French gray in color, and troopers are issued two hats: straw for summer and felt for winter. A Kentucky State Police full color brass seal is worn on the front of the hat. The hat chord is light gray.
Vehicles
The Kentucky State Police use a variety of police cruisers and patrol vehicles. The current fleet consists of:
- Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptors (CVPI)
- Chevrolet Caprice PPV's (based on the Holden Caprice)
- Dodge Charger R/T Police Interceptors
- Ford Super Duty Crime Scene Response vehicle (one unit per post)
The CVPI currently serves as the primary KSP fleet vehicle. Due to Ford's discontinuation of the CVPI in 2011 and as the CVPI fleet is retired, the Caprice & the Charger will become the primary road and patrol fleet vehicle for troopers. The KSP Division of Commercial Vehicle Enforcement will switch to Chevrolet Tahoes, Ford Explorer Police Interceptor SSV's, and Chevrolet Caprice PPV's as they retire their CVPI's . The KSP Facilities Security Branch will replace their CVPI's with Ford Taurus-based Police Interceptors.
Overview
The department's headquarters are located at 919 Versailles Road in Frankfort while its training academy is located in the former Frankfort Career Development Center on Coffee Tree Road in Frankfort. Cadets training to become troopers undergo a 23-week, paramilitary-style training program.[8] Sworn Commercial Vehicle Enforcement officers undergo a 26-week training program at the KSP Academy that includes specialized training on commercial vehicle compliance and highway safety.[9] After graduation, probationary troopers & CVE officers must complete field training under the supervision of a training trooper/officer at their assigned post (troopers) or region (CVE officers). Officers with the KSP Facilities Security Branch must meet the requirements for and receive a Special Law Enforcement Officer (SLEO) commission under KRS 61.900-930 as well as undergo specialized training, including firearms training.[10] KSP telecommunicators (dispatchers) must complete a five-week training program at the KSP Academy.[11]
The KSP operates the state's system of regional crime labs. In addition, the KSP Facilities Security Branch, along with specially assigned state troopers, is responsible for protecting the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, members of the Kentucky General Assembly and state property, including the Kentucky State Capitol Complex.[3]
On July 14, 2008, the Kentucky Vehicle Enforcement department, which is responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement, became an operational division of the KSP.[12]
The department also operates Trooper Island Camp, a juvenile crime prevention program at Dale Hollow Lake State Park.[5]
Structure
- Commissioner of the State Police
- Executive Security Branch
- Legal Office
- Administration Division
- Programs
- Drivers Testing Branch
- Facilities Security Branch
- Financial and Grant Management Branch
- Highway Safety Branch
- Inspections and Evaluation Section
- Legislative Security Branch
- Media Relations Branch
- Strategic Planning Branch
- Internal Operations
- Academy Branch
- Human Resources Branch
- Internal Affairs Branch
- Properties Management and Supply Branch
- Recruitment Branch
- Programs
- Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division
- West Troop
- Region 1
- Region 2
- Region 3
- East Troop
- Region 4
- Region 5
- Region 6
- West Troop
- Operations Division
- West Troop
- Post 1
- Post 2
- Post 3
- Post 4
- Post 5
- Post 12
- Post 15
- Post 16
- East Troop
- Post 6
- Post 7
- Post 8
- Post 9
- Post 10
- Post 11
- Post 13
- Post 14
- Special Enforcement Troop
- Cannabis Suppression
- West Drug Enforcement
- East Drug Enforcement
- Aircraft Support
- Vehicle Investigations
- Special Operations
- West Troop
- Technical Services Division
- Forensic Division
- Central Laboratory – (Frankfort)
- Eastern Laboratory – (Ashland)
- Jefferson Laboratory – (Louisville)
- Northern Laboratory – (Cold Spring)
- Southeast Laboratory – (London)
- Western Laboratory – (Madisonville)
- Office of the Chief Information Officer
- Communications and Computer Technologies Branch
- Criminal Identification and Records Branch
- Headquarters Communications Branch
- Intelligence Branch
- Forensic Division
Demographics[13]
- Male: 87%
- Female: 13%
- White: 96%
- African-American/Black: 3%
- Asian: 1%
Fallen officers
Since the establishment of the Kentucky State Police, 27 troopers and 1 commercial vehicle enforcement officer (who was killed prior to CVE's merger with KSP) have died in the line of duty. In addition, 6 Kentucky Highway Patrol officers died in the line of duty prior to the establishment of the KSP.[14]
Officer | Date of Death | Details |
---|---|---|
James Powell Hays+ | Gunfire | |
Robert Rowland+ | Gunfire | |
Vernon C. Snellen+ | Automobile accident | |
Mose Hurt Littrell+ | Gunfire | |
Houston Greene+ | Gunfire | |
Vadas G. Richardson+ | Gunfire | |
Harold J. Toll | Gunfire | |
Robert Ranaker Miller | Automobile accident | |
Lee Trebu Huffman | Struck by vehicle | |
Herbert C. Bush | Automobile accident | |
William Everett Tevis | Gunfire | |
Cecil Walter Uzzle | Automobile accident | |
Elmer Mobley, Jr. | Automobile accident | |
Delano G. Powell | Gunfire | |
Mack Edward Brady | Automobile accident | |
William Harrel Barrett | Gunfire | |
James Willard McNeely | Drowned | |
Walter Orville Thurtell | Automobile accident | |
Joe Ward, Jr. | Struck by vehicle | |
William Carter Smith | Gunfire | |
John Wayne Hutchinson | Gunfire | |
Bobby Allen McCoun, Jr. | Gunfire (Accidental) | |
William Francis Pickard | Gunfire | |
Willis Durwood Martin | Vehicular assault | |
Clinton Eugene "Clint" Cunningham | Gunfire | |
Edward Ray Harris | Gunfire | |
Jerome Scott Clifton | Gunfire | |
Darrell Vendl Phelps | Gunfire | |
Johnny Montague Edrington | Gunfire | |
Johnny Gordon Adkins | Heart attack | |
Jason Wayne Cammack++ | Automobile accident | |
Jonathan Kyle Leonard | Automobile accident | |
Eric K. Chrisman | Automobile accident | |
Joseph Cameron Ponder | Gunfire |
+ indicates an officer with the Kentucky Highway Patrol
++ indicates a Commercial Vehicle Enforcement officer
In popular culture
- The alternate-timeline historical fiction author Harry Turtledove has used a fictionalized Kentucky State Police as a plot device in his Southern Victory Series.
- The Kentucky State Police was featured throughout the 1998 movie U.S. Marshals which starred Tommy Lee Jones, Wesley Snipes, Robert Downey, Jr. and Joe Pantoliano.
- The Kentucky State Police was featured as the agency conducting the investigation into the death of an EPA agent in the 1997 movie Fire Down Below starring Steven Seagal, Marg Helgenberger, Kris Kristofferson, Harry Dean Stanton, and Levon Helm.
- The Kentucky State Police are featured in the FX drama Justified. Peter Murnick plays Kentucky State Trooper Tom Bergen, who assists Deputy US Marshal Raylan Givens throughout season 2.
See also
References
- ^ a b c USDOJ Statistics
- ^ http://www.census.gov/popest/states/NST-ann-est.html 2007 Population Estimates
- ^ a b "History of the Kentucky State Police". Kentucky State Police. Retrieved July 19, 2007.
- ^ "History of the Kentucky State Police". Kentucky State Police. Retrieved February 1, 2007.
- ^ a b Kleber, John E., ed. (1992). "Kentucky State Police". The Kentucky Encyclopedia. Associate editors: Thomas D. Clark, Lowell H. Harrison, and James C. Klotter. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-1772-0.
- ^ "Kentucky State Police Posts". Kentucky State Police. Retrieved February 1, 2007.
- ^ "Kentucky State Police CVE Region Locations". Kentucky State Police. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
- ^ Kentucky State Police Academy
- ^ Recruits report to Kentucky State Police Academy
- ^ Kentucky State Police Facilities Security Branch
- ^ Kentucky State Police Telecommunications Academy Graduates Fourth Class
- ^ "Kentucky Vehicle Enforcement to become a division of KSP". Office of Communications of the Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Retrieved July 20, 2008.
- ^ http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/lemas00.pdf U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics, 2000: Data for Individual State and Local Agencies with 100 or More Officers
- ^ [1]