Posted: 8/24/2011 10:09:15 AM EDT
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Howdy,
Should be getting out of the Marine Corps about this time next year (I'm an Infantry officer, I will probably stay in the Reserves). I'm primarily interested in coming home and pursuing a Law Enforcement career when I get out. My number one pick is Lexington PD, but I want to make sure I'm exploring other options. Is anybody out there a KY State Trooper? I'd just like to pick your brain about the job via PM or email. If you are on SRT or know much about it, then I'd definitely like to ask about that. Thanks, Josh |
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My Dad was a trooper, and I have relatives who are currently on the job, so I can help if you don't have any other luck.
FYI, SRT slots are hard to come by, and they are usually reserved for individuals with a number of years on the force. Another thing to consider is how particular you are going to be about where you live / work? With KSP you pretty much end wherever they send you in the state. You can request your preferred location out of the academy, but there are no guarantees. Feel free to email or PM if you need to, best of luck, M Richardson |
I have a brother that is a tropper and I am a Deputy Sheriff so one of us should be able to help you with any??? My experience with SRT is that any current troppers have dibes on any open slots so your best bet would be to get some experience as a tropper then go after SRT but then again they are begging for troppers so yuou may luck out. Also it does not hurt if you know someone with political connections that can mayb epull a few strings and get you on SRT from the start, I have seen it happen before. I mean this is still Kentucky last time I checked
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There is a BIG sign out in front of the post here in Richmond, that states they are accepting applications. You may want to go ahead and apply. I also have several friends who are troopers, including a former SRT member. Feel free to IM me. +1 im from Richmond as well, I know alot of good guys out of Post 7 |
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I think you could do a lot better than KSP. Why join one of the most disliked groups in the state. If you were an officer, then you obviously have a college degree. Why not try the FBI or the State Dept. instead of KSP. I hope you aren't married if you go that route. Too many of them find distractions or end the marriage. Seems like a waste of an education to me but good luck if you go that route.
And for those of you who don't like this post, I have known many KSP and even had some in my family. I even know one on a SRT team. Many I have known have cheated on their wives. Most are way too egotistical, power hungry, and arrogant. I really hope that I never have to depend on any one of them for anything. For instance, the KSP in eastern KY who defended a known druggie (probably informant) who killed a relative of mine while the druggie was on the road on suspended license and with several illegal drugs in his system. I really don't have too much negative to say on the Lexi PD though. Not enough experience with them. |
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With regards to your opinion on the KSP, I'm not going to touch that one with a 10' stick. Everyone can voice their own opinion and that is yours.
But don't get personal with this. Don't imply that because you have seen other people act a certain way that I will also be that way. You have no idea who I am, and I don't appreciate you lumping me in with a group of people that you say have no integrity. As far as "wasting my education" by not going Federal... screw that. The whole reason I want to get out of the Marine Corps is because I'm an officer. If I had known that the officer career route was this lame before I got involved in it, then I would have just enlisted. One tour as a platoon commander, and now I'm a company XO and don't do shit related to infantry. I manage an armory, sit in meetings, and make training schedules. My company commander - who is a grunt's grunt - doesn't get to do jack related to warfighting, either. After that, what job do I have to look forward to? Bn OpsO? Bn XO? No thanks. I'm not suited for sitting behind a desk for the next 17+ years. I'm also not a big fan of moving around every three years and a lot of other things specific to the military. This is NOT me saying "screw the military" or "I hate the Marine Corps." I love the Marine Corps and I loved my time as a platoon commander. But as for a career, this just isn't the road for me to take. Going Federal doesn't fix most of those problems. I'd like to come home and live in KY. I can't do that if I go Federal (as far as I know). Most FBI guys I've dealt with/heard about/talked to basically say that it's a lot of work on white-collar crime and running numbers and whatnot. Again, not my game. I don't want to move "up" the ladder faster than I'm ready - at this point in my life I'm very content to be the bottom guy on the totem pole out doing the work. That may change someday, but it's not the case right now. From what I know about them, I'd do the US Marshals Service in a heartbeat if I could spend my whole career in KY, but I'm pretty sure they have to move around just like everybody else. If anyone knows any different, let me know. So I'd rather do a state or local PD so that I can actually get out and patrol, do something different everyday, control my own promotions (instead of getting forced up or out like in the military), and live at home. I want a chance to serve by actually doing the job instead of sitting around and watching others do the job. I train hard - way harder than any other infantry officers I know. I train at civilian shooting schools, shoot on my own and also competitively, do martial arts, study a variety of tactical and legal topics, and for what? So I can draw a paycheck to waste my life in meetings about safety? Don't get me wrong; people need to do that job, but it ain't me. And if getting out and serving by patrolling and putting myself in danger means I'm wasting an education, then I'll be proud to burn my degree. |
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I think you could do a lot better than KSP. Why join one of the most disliked groups in the state. If you were an officer, then you obviously have a college degree. Why not try the FBI or the State Dept. instead of KSP. I hope you aren't married if you go that route. Too many of them find distractions or end the marriage. Seems like a waste of an education to me but good luck if you go that route. And for those of you who don't like this post, I have known many KSP and even had some in my family. I even know one on a SRT team. Many I have known have cheated on their wives. Most are way too egotistical, power hungry, and arrogant. I really hope that I never have to depend on any one of them for anything. For instance, the KSP in eastern KY who defended a known druggie (probably informant) who killed a relative of mine while the druggie was on the road on suspended license and with several illegal drugs in his system. I really don't have too much negative to say on the Lexi PD though. Not enough experience with them. On what facts can you show us were KSP is the "most hated" agency in the state? personal opinion? if so that doesnt mean shit for facts. Implying that the OP is going to be a power hungry, cheating, asshole if he becomes a Trooper is just downright idiotic. Their are power hungry, emotionally driven, egotistical assholes in every department across the globe, not just in KY. All your doing is putting down an agency as a whole because you had a bad experience with not even a fraction of the total force. |
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On what facts can you show us were KSP is the "most hated" agency in the state? personal opinion? if so that doesnt mean shit for facts. Implying that the OP is going to be a power hungry, cheating, asshole if he becomes a Trooper is just downright idiotic. Their are power hungry, emotionally driven, egotistical assholes in every department across the globe, not just in KY. All your doing is putting down an agency as a whole because you had a bad experience with not even a fraction of the total force. I guess it is based on the same things as a police investigation and/or court trial, circumstantial evidence and direct evidence, or evidence that suggests truth as opposed to evidence that directly proves truth. Opinions are probably based on both. I’ve known a state cop to be either dirty or incompetent. I can’t bet as to which he really was or which is worse. At the same time, I have known a truly heroic Sheriff’s deputy. Actually knew him to once serve a felony warrant for violence that others were either afraid or too lazy to serve at a guys house. Turns out, the suspect with the warrant was a real standup sort of guy who was being railroaded. The deputy was able to arrest the guy twice, once on serving the warrant and again on the indictment. In both situations, the deputy went out of his to way safe guard the accused felon who was extremely cooperative. It was a typical backwoods county attempt to destroy a great man by a bunch of scum who made up the largest family in the county. The goal was to try to paint the man into a corner and take a plea deal. However, the guy was too tough for them. At the day of the trial, it all fell apart and the charges were dropped before the trial got underway. Yep, the state cop was the tool of that crooked family. Again, I can’t bet as to whether he was either dirty or totally incompetent. It happens. Right now, I know a male registered sex offender … of a two old (sex abuse and sodomy)… who is NON-COMPLIANT, posting for and hosting bareback sex parties 2 to 4 times a month, (and was doing that across the street from a school for about a year or so), hooking on Craigslist as a transvestite, and using drugs . Yet, there is no one with enough balls to do a dang thing about it . But, I keep trying. Amazing! I’m sure we all could go on an on. There are good cops and bad cops. It is like that in most work places in most careers. However, there is no other position in society with such authority and power, not even a judge. The fact that bad cops are either protected or tolerated by others is the most damaging aspect to law enforcement. There are some cops here who show both sides of society. The will post videos of stupid offenders and stupid cops. People should tolerate neither. The difference with cops is that they hide behind a badge and are protected. As for being the most hated in the state, that would be very reasonable… and statistically likely. Outside of any particular jurisdiction, people will be indifferent about another agency. For example, people in Boone county will be indifferent regarding the cops in Henry county. The same would be true for most cities. However, everyone in the state would likely to be exposed to the state police. Thus, they would have stronger emotions about them than agencies with which they never interact. Of course, that is a two way street. The KSP could easy come out of a state wide poll being the most hated and the most respected… easily. |
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I think you could do a lot better than KSP. Why join one of the most disliked groups in the state. Sorry, but that's a load of crap. KSP is a stand up agency. I'd trust those guys to have my back any day. According to Arfcom doctrine, the idea would be that a person trust, respect, and depend upon themselves the most. For me, as far as trust and respect, KSP would be far below my most trusted family members and above the majority who are technically family. |
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I don't work for KSP or Lexington Metro and I'm not a LEO but hopefully I can throw some info out there for you. I tested for Lexington Metro last year when they opened up their hiring process for the next academy. They had nearly 1200 people apply before they even made a hiring announcement. That academy still hasn't even started and rumors are that tit might, and I don't think this is even confirmed yet, but might start in Feb. The new mayor is pretty much against any new hiring for Metro, Fire, and Corrections, even if they are badly in need of man power. I wouldn't expect them to do much hiring for a few years. Hell, UKPD just opening up hiring and they only had the posting online for like 2 days. I know there is at least couple of people here that work for Metro so hopefully they can help you out if you have questions about them. I've met a few of their officers and detectives through my job and overall they seem to be pretty good people. However, there are a few (one person in particular) on their force that could be a character in a bad cop drama movie. Lex Metro sees their decent fair share of action I guess, plenty of drug to go around that city, but sometimes I think they are just bored and charge people with some ridiculous shit. The gym I workout at has a lot of Post 12 Troopers there and I chat it up with a few sometimes since they are familiar with my job and I see some of their arrests. I've got nothing negative to say about anyone from KSP, the ones I've met have all been real nice guys. I was told they are looking to do at least on academy a year and each academy has like 100 people in it, but usually half or less make it, most drop out the first couple of days. They just started the next hiring process for the next class. I'm taking the test in a few weeks. Hopefully I'll make it in this hiring cycle, I'd rather get on with KSP than any place else since I've already got 4 years in with the state. It is true that you don't get to pick which Post you get stationed at, but I have read they do different things at each academy. Sometimes they have cadets pick locations out of a hat, sometimes they let the top ten cadets have their first pick. I just tested with Bowling Green PD, which seems like a really good agency to work for. Their Chief said they do about 3 or 4 hiring process a year, which is about 15 new hires a year. They are very competitive but seems like an overall good place to work. I'd work their over Lexington Metro, but that is just me personally. As far as the US Marshals thing, I have a cousin that is one and from what I know you don't have any say in where you get stationed out of the academy (which is pretty much how it is with any federal agency) but after the first couple of years you could transfer. I don't think they get re-assigned to new duty stations every few years like in the military, most stick it out in one place for most of their career. |
| There is also the option of being a conservation officer with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife. If you like doing something different all of the time, getting out in the field, out on the water etc. it might work well for you. Always a lot of spots open around the state. |
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Quoted: There is also the option of being a conservation officer with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife. If you like doing something different all of the time, getting out in the field, out on the water etc. it might work well for you. Always a lot of spots open around the state. Have they been hiring lately? I never see any openings listed. |
| Lexington Metro, like most large departments in KY are constantly hiring new Officers. The KY State Police goes through the hiring process, but only run one academy class per year, and depending on funding may not even do that. A lot of the guys who apply for KSP end up going to other departments because they get tired of the wait. All Police Officers in KY must be certified through the State. Once you are certified (POPS) it is very easy to lateral to different departments since the hiring agencies doesn't have to pay you for 6 months while you are attending the academy. To my knowledge the KY State Police and Louisville Metro are the only agencies that run there on academy. The rest of the Department/Agencies go through the DOCJT in Richmond, KY. The recruits then return to their Departments for Field Training or go on to specialized training such as KVE, Fish and Wildlife, or their Department's academy. |
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Quoted: Lexington Metro, like most large departments in KY are constantly hiring new Officers. The KY State Police goes through the hiring process, but only run one academy class per year, and depending on funding may not even do that. A lot of the guys who apply for KSP end up going to other departments because they get tired of the wait. All Police Officers in KY must be certified through the State. Once you are certified (POPS) it is very easy to lateral to different departments since the hiring agencies doesn't have to pay you for 6 months while you are attending the academy. To my knowledge the KY State Police and Louisville Metro are the only agencies that run there on academy. The rest of the Department/Agencies go through the DOCJT in Richmond, KY. The recruits then return to their Departments for Field Training or go on to specialized training such as KVE, Fish and Wildlife, or their Department's academy. Lexington Metro also runs their own academy. And KSP has done way more hiring the past couple of years than Lexington Metro has. Like I said before, Metro was looking to already be running their next academy and original plans where to have it start months ago but the Mayor axed it, and they are hoping, and that is a big emphasis on hoping, to do that academy by next spring. |
| I know Fish and WIldlife had some openings a couple months ago. They tend to hire COs in batches so they can send them through training together. Plenty of counties sitting with no COs at the present time. KSP must have a big need right now also as I passed the post in Frankfort today and they also had a banner out front saying they are taking applications. |
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JB––good to see you threading in the KY HTF again.
Lexington's next Academy may be occurring as early as September, although many words I hear are leaning toward November or January. This is good for me, I hope. 
City Council approved funding for a 25 seat Academy and Mayor Gray didn't veto it. This is a great step forward. I do certainly hope this goes forward especially since several million dollars were appropriated to a road project that is 1 mile from my house. I believe it was $12M. Good luck my friend. |
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Lexington Metro, like most large departments in KY are constantly hiring new Officers. The KY State Police goes through the hiring process, but only run one academy class per year, and depending on funding may not even do that. A lot of the guys who apply for KSP end up going to other departments because they get tired of the wait. All Police Officers in KY must be certified through the State. Once you are certified (POPS) it is very easy to lateral to different departments since the hiring agencies doesn't have to pay you for 6 months while you are attending the academy. To my knowledge the KY State Police and Louisville Metro are the only agencies that run there on academy. The rest of the Department/Agencies go through the DOCJT in Richmond, KY. The recruits then return to their Departments for Field Training or go on to specialized training such as KVE, Fish and Wildlife, or their Department's academy.[/quo A bit wrong info here. Lexington Metro, Louisville Metro, and KSP all run their own academy. Everyone else goes through DOCJT in RIchmond, including KVE and F&W. Lexington Metro is not always hiring. Lex Metro hasn't ran a recruit class in a few years. I have not heard that they were even opening up testing or planning to hire. Louisville Metro I have no idea about when they last ran a recruit class or were testing. As far as going through the academy then doing a lateral to another agency.....yes and no. Even if you are certified as a peace officer in KY, Lexington and KSP will both make you go back through their academy. Lousiville Metro I'm not sure about. Now if you worked for Bowling Green PD you could lateral over to say Covington PD without going through the academy. |
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Lexington's last Academy class was 31Aug2009 through 30April2010. They swore in 16 the day after Officer Bryan Durman was killed in the Line of Duty. They began a hiring process last summer and had a hiring freeze put in place temporarily. With the new fiscal year in place, City Countil voted for funding a class of 25. Mayor Gray also signed that budget effectively giving the freeze a termination date. When will the next seating be? I've heard this month, November, and January. I've also heard 20 to 25.
Look here if you want more information regarding becoming a Lexington Police Officer. Some parts of Lexington's Academy will occur at DOCJT in Richmond. They'll do tactical driving, team building exercises, and LINK/NCIC/MDT. The fitness facility is very nice, and they can run their PTs completely indoors, but when they want to put someone in foot pursuit training, they have that available. |
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A bit wrong info here. Lexington Metro, Louisville Metro, and KSP all run their own academy. Everyone else goes through DOCJT in RIchmond, including KVE and F&W. Lexington Metro is not always hiring. Lex Metro hasn't ran a recruit class in a few years. I have not heard that they were even opening up testing or planning to hire. Louisville Metro I have no idea about when they last ran a recruit class or were testing. As far as going through the academy then doing a lateral to another agency.....yes and no. Even if you are certified as a peace officer in KY, Lexington and KSP will both make you go back through their academy. Lousiville Metro I'm not sure about. Now if you worked for Bowling Green PD you could lateral over to say Covington PD without going through the academy. Sorry, that's why I put "To my Knowledge". It's hard to believe that Lexington PD has only added 16 officers in the last few years. They must lose 2 to 3 times that each year due to people going to other departments, retirements and dismissals. |
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It's hard to believe that Lexington PD has only added 16 officers in the last few years. They must lose 2 to 3 times that each year due to people going to other departments, retirements and dismissals. RoA might be about 10 per year. I know several veterans who are staying on since more years of service = better retirement. |