With high rate of police shootings in KY, will governor candidates bring transparency?

As former and current state attorneys general Daniel Cameron (R) and incumbent Gov. Andy Beshear (D) face off in the 2023 election, a major focus of their campaigns has been about law enforcement.

The governor’s office takes on some of the greatest law enforcement responsibilities in the state – having powers to grant pardons, overseeing Kentucky State Police, serving as the commander-in-chief of the state’s military forces and having statutory authority to make appointments to cabinets overseeing criminal justice.

Police shootings have been an issue in recent years, and police accountability has been under the spotlight ever since Breonna Taylor, a Louisville woman, was shot and killed by Louisville police in 2020.

The Herald-Leader asked the candidates about the issue. These were there responses.

Q. In 2021 it was reported KSP had the nation’s highest rate of police-involved shooting deaths. Police shootings remain an issue in Kentucky, with 28 officer shootings reported last year, and key information about why and how police used lethal force on citizens is often withheld from the public by KSP. How would you promote transparency in police shootings as agencies come under increased pressure to release more information to the public?

Beshear: Everyone deserves to be safe. Government must be transparent at all levels, but we need to strike an appropriate balance that allows law enforcement to do their jobs while also providing justice for those that have been harmed. The Kentucky State Police current policy tries to reach this balance by releasing footage as soon as possible without compromising the integrity of an investigation. I’ve always supported efforts to better strike a balance that allows appropriate levels of transparency for the public while making sure that we’re getting our officers the resources they need to keep our communities safe. That’s why we’ve worked to increase funding for law enforcement, and provide a $15,000 raise for our troopers. Moving forward, I will continue to work with advocates, law enforcement and community leaders across Kentucky to make sure the process of releasing information is as transparent as possible without threatening active investigations.

Cameron: Strong relationships between police officers and our communities are crucial. While it is essential to hold the rare instance of gross police misconduct accountable, we must look at the incredibly high rise in crime across our state, and address the safety of our citizens. But I don’t think most Kentuckians are concerned about that. Here in Kentucky, rural counties have seen a 68.5% increase in homicides. From 2019 to 2021, carjackings in Louisville increased by more than 200%. Louisville has experienced a historic high of murders for three years in a row and has outpaced Chicago’s and Philadelphia’s murder rates. I introduced the Cameron Public Safety Plan, a comprehensive plan to begin supporting Kentucky’s law enforcement community and reduce crime on Day One. The plan includes a $5,000 recruitment and retention bonuses for law enforcement, a stand-alone car-jacking law, and adding a stand-alone KSP post in Louisville.

How has Beshear handled law enforcement as governor?

Beshear served as the state’s attorney general before he narrowly defeated former Republican Governor Matt Bevin in the 2019 election. Since that time, Beshear’s administration has poured millions of dollars into local and state law enforcement agencies, according to his campaign.

Part of this includes a $15,000 pay raise for troopers which was signed into law after it was passed by the General Assembly to allow KSP to recruit, train and retain higher law enforcement. Beshear and state lawmakers established paid vacation, sick leave and holiday pay, as well as enhanced health insurance contribution payments for retired state police.

In January 2022, $12.2 million was included in the state budget for KSP to purchase body cameras. Beshear said it was the first time in Kentucky history that KSP would get money for body cameras.

Beshear also broke ground this summer on a $28 million law enforcement training facility, according to the DOCJT. The facility will be nearly 43,000 square feet and is expected to be completed in 2025.

In 2020, Beshear’s office launched an investigation after it was discovered KSP were using offensive training material that featured quotes from Adolf Hitler and Robert E. Lee. Beshear confirmed the offensive material was found while his office reviewed all of KSP’s training documents to remove the problematic presentations. The commissioner of KSP at the time resigned.

Cameron touts police support, faces criticism over Taylor

Attorney General Cameron was elected in 2019 as the first African American elected to a standalone statewide office in Kentucky’s history. He is the first Republican to hold the Attorney General’s Office since 1948, according to his website. Cameron graduated from Louis D. Brandeis School of Law and was a McConnell Scholar who served in Washington, D.C. as legal counsel to the longtime senator.

Cameron’s campaign says he’s been publicly endorsed by more than 100 law enforcement agencies, and he touts his support for police and other first responders as a top priority in this race.

In July, Cameron’s campaign released a lengthy 12-point plan to address crime in Kentucky. The plan proposed allowing murder charges for drug dealers involved in an overdose death, pursuing the death penalty for people who murder cops, revoking subpoena powers for civilian police review boards and giving Kentucky law enforcement officers a $5,000 bonus.

He also has created Operation Fight Fentanyl, an initiative to “combat the opioid crisis by hearing from Kentuckians who have been directly impacted by illicit fentanyl.”

But Cameron has faced sharp criticism for the way he handled an investigation into Breonna Taylor’s death. The public and Taylor’s family have accused him of not being transparent about the investigation and being unwilling to prosecute the officers involved in her death. An investigation led by Cameron led to an indictment for only one officer who was later acquitted, but federal prosecutors found wrongdoing and systemic issues within the department. Multiple officers in the case were federally charged.

This story was originally published October 24, 2023 at 2:00 PM.

Taylor Six

Lexington Herald-Leader

Taylor Six is the criminal justice reporter at the Herald-Leader. She was born and raised in Lexington attending Lafayette High School. She graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in 2018 with a degree in journalism. She previously worked as the government reporter for the Richmond Register.