Lexington police officer suspended for three months after drugs found in trunk of cruiser
A Lexington police officer has been suspended for three months after he failed to turn over drugs he seized during traffic stops and other criminal investigations, and for violating other police procedures.
According to documents the Lexington Herald-Leader obtained through an open records request, Kyle Blankenship’s three-month unpaid suspension will begin Oct. 3. He will remain on suspension until Dec. 31.
The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council approved Blankenship’s three-month suspension during a Sept. 8 meeting. Documents related to Blankenship’s suspension were not released at the time the council suspended Blankenship. That information is only released through an Open Records Act request.
According to internal police disciplinary records, Blankenship brought his cruiser to fleet services for routine maintenance on May 5.
Staff at fleet services found drugs and other personal items in a box in the trunk. Police records indicate the drugs seized were not documented as part of criminal investigations.
Officers are required under police rules to log every item seized, regardless of whether there is a criminal case, according to police operating procedures.
In a statement to police Public Integrity Unit investigators, Blankenship said he was often responding to multiple calls and did not have time to log the items seized into evidence.
Some of the items seized from Blankenship’s car included:
- Suspected marijuana (7.7 grams) from a traffic stop where driver was arrested on a warrant
- Suspected marijuana (12.8 grams) from a traffic stop where driver was given a warning notice and suspected marijuana was handed over by the driver
- Suspected .1 grams of heroin in plastic baggie. Origin not known
- Three folded up pieces of paper containing suspected heroin .1 grams. Origin not known.
- Multiple glass pipes, syringes and scales. Recovered from multiple encounters.
After being alerted to the evidence found in Blankenship’s car, police reviewed Blankenship’s activities and body-worn camera footage from Jan. 1 to May.
During that investigation, police also found other violations of police orders and procedures, according to the investigative documents.
There were multiple instances where Blankenship conducted a search but did not document that search as required under police operating procedures.
Some of those searches where no paperwork was found include:
- Feb. 23, 2022: Searches were conducted of a garage, vehicle and residence. Senior police officers expressed reservations that the voluntary consent for the search by the subject would not have withstood a legal challenge due to the officers on scene pressuring the subject to consent to a search.
- March 9, 2022: During a “plain smell search” — when an officer says they may smell a substance, such as marijuana, during a traffic stop. “Blankenship discovers a small pan containing suspected marijuana and dumps it onto the ground,” according to the internal investigation.
Blankenship should not have destroyed evidence on the side of the road, officers said. That evidence should have been booked, according to police procedures.
Blankenship had also taken personal identification cards.
In addition, officers also found multiple instances where Blankenship activated his body-worn camera too late or stopped recording prematurely.
The investigation revealed policy violations related to property and evidence procedures, search records and body worn camera procedures.
Blankenship was drug tested after officers discovered the narcotics in the trunk. That test was negative.
Blankenship admitted to investigators that his work was “sloppy,” according to documents.
“Blankenship did take responsibility for his actions and what he admitted were clear policy violations; he did offer up a justification for his behavior by stating that he was a high-activity officer who focused on going from call to call, attempting to be as productive as possible. He agreed that he did not book in amounts of narcotics that he believed personally were not of a sufficient amount to merit his placing of charges,” according to the investigative report summary.
He told investigators that in the future, he would keep evidence bags and proper packaging items in the cab of his vehicle, to help facilitate appropriate evidence collection practices.
Blankenship accepted Lexington Police Chief Lawrence Weathers recommendation of a three-month suspension, according to disciplinary records.
