KSP: “Our color is gray, our gender is trooper”

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ)- Cadets at Frankfort’s Kentucky State Police Academy may be from diverse backgrounds but once on campus, their leaders say their color is gray and their gender is trooper.

That’s also a slogan found on advertisements across the state. One in particular features an African-American trooper. He’s one of 28 African-American troopers with KSP. The other numbers break down like this: seven Hispanic or Latino, six Asian, and 25 female troopers.

Courtney Milam, a current cadet in Frankfort says “our color is gray, our gender is trooper” is more than just a catchy slogan.

“They tell us, I mean, there is no female there is no male, there is only cadet. There’s no black, white, blue, brown, whatever, there is gray,” she says. “We’re finally starting to understand that we’re all a unit. We struggle as a unit and we succeed as a unit.”

Milam and her fellow cadets sat in a classroom Friday morning, part of their training to become troopers.

“We don’t care about race or gender. We want good people who can uphold the traditions of the Kentucky State Police,” says Lt. Norman Preston. “We literally look at our color as gray. We want good troopers.”

Lt. Preston says there are no special recruiting tactics to attract minorities and women but Tpr. Kendra Wilson says KSP always looks to bring them in.

“We are pretty successful in bringing minorities into the agency. It’s up to the people themselves and the cadets themselves as to whether they’ll be able to stay and wear the gray uniform,” says Tpr. Wilson.

If you’d like to learn more about becoming a state trooper, click here: http://www.kentuckystatepolice.org/career.html.