Recruitment for the Kentucky State Police is up. That’s what KSP Commissioner Phillip Burnett told a legislative subcommittee on Justice and Judiciary this week. He said recruitment had declined because KSP pay ranked much lower than surrounding law enforcement entities.
But Commissioner Burnett said KSP pay changed last summer.
“We were last in surrounding pay and then working with the General Assembly and the administration of Governor Beshear, now we’re in the top five in starting pay in Kentucky. That became effective July 1st, 2022 House Bill 259.”
He said while recruitment numbers are up, they are also seeing fewer retirements and resignations among the trooper ranks.
“In 2018 we averaged 24 sworn resignations, in 2019 we had 19, 2020 we had 26, 2021 we had 34, 2022 we had 12 and for 2023, we have one.”
Burnett said the last recruitment class before the increase saw 415 applications over a ten-month period. The first class that will start after the increase saw 329 applications in the first month alone.
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