KSP to represent state in 2022 Special Olympics USA Torch Run final leg
The Final Leg will carry the Special Olympics Flame of Hope throughout Florida in the leadup to the Games
FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) – Sergeant Barrett Brewer of the Kentucky State Police (KSP), has been selected to represent Kentucky as part of the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games Law Enforcement Torch Run Final Leg. The Final Leg will carry the Special Olympics Flame of Hope throughout Florida in the leadup to the Games, culminating in its presentation at the Opening Ceremonies on June 5 and the lighting of the USA Games Cauldron.
According to KSP, Brewer is an 11-year veteran who is currently assigned to the KSP Academy Branch. A second-generation Trooper, Brewer knew early on that he wanted the State Police to be part of his future.
“My father, whose career spanned 30-plus years with the Kentucky State Police, had the biggest impact on me becoming a State Trooper,” Brewer said. “Due to the exposure to positive influences within KSP, I realized at an early age, I desired to join one of the nation’s premier law enforcement agencies.”
Brewer is a relative newcomer to Torch Run activities, having started in 2020. According to KSP, his first effort with Special Olympics ended up being kind of unique. That year, the UPS Plane Pull – which usually sees teams of 20 pull a UPS 757 — had to be converted to a Paper Plane Throw due to lingering logistical issues related to COVID, but that wasn’t what Brewer and his team of State Troopers had signed up for.
Source: KSP
“The 2020 Plane Pull was sidetracked due to COVID,” Brewer explained, “but our team of Troopers pulled our own plane at the Frankfort Airport.”
And with Brewer as the team captain, his Thin Gray Line team raised more than $4,600 for the event, a huge amount for the program in a still challenging time for Special Olympics.
According to KSP, team Thin Gray Line team returned to the more traditional UPS Plane Pull in 2021, raising more than $4,700. He has also participated in the KSP’s Cover the Cruiser campaign which has raised more than $36,000 for Special Olympics in just two years.
Brewer, whose daughter Addison has Down Syndrome, realizes his career gives him an opportunity to help others even beyond his work.
Source: KSP
“I decided to utilize being a public servant as a platform,” Brewer said, “to help generate awareness and promote inclusivity among all individuals.”
Source: KSP
“I am humbled and honored to have been selected to represent the Commonwealth and the Kentucky State Police,” Brewer said. “I couldn’t have imagined I would be given this opportunity when I applied with KSP.”
Special Olympics Kentucky President and CEO Trish Mazzoni is happy to have the opportunity to include Brewer in the Final Leg.
“Sergeant Brewer exemplifies everything that we really appreciate in our Law Enforcement Torch Run volunteers,” she said. “He is incredibly dedicated to the work he does on behalf of our athletes. And he’s always working to find out how to make events better, up to improvising a plane pull when his first work with our program took a turn. We are thrilled that it was possible for him to be part of the USA Games Final Leg.”
Source: KSP
The Law Enforcement Torch Run Final Leg for the USA Games will include dozens of local, state and federal law enforcement officers from around the country guiding the Special Olympics Flame of Hope to the 2022 USA Games. The Final Leg will kick off in Miami on May 30 and complete its journey at the Opening Ceremonies in Exploria Stadium in Orlando on June 5.
The 2022 Special Olympics USA Games, scheduled for June 5-12, 2022, in Orlando, Florida, will unite more than 5,500 athletes and coaches from all 50 states and the Caribbean. The USA Games will offer 19 Olympic-style team and individual sports, including athletics (track & field), basketball, bocce, bowling, cheerleading, equestrian, flag football, golf, gymnastics, open water swimming, powerlifting, soccer, softball, stand up paddleboard, surfing, swimming, tennis, triathlon and volleyball.
