Kentucky State Police helping with crowd control, security in Washington, D.C.
The Kentucky State Police has sent a detail of 44 state troopers to Washington, D.C., to help provide security at Wednesday’s inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
The troopers will be temporarily sworn in as local police officers and will have the power to make arrests, state police said in a news release Tuesday. Their duties will include providing security at events and helping with traffic and crowd control.
State police said they are among about 90 outside law enforcement agencies helping provide security at the inauguration. They said the U.S. Marshal’s Service told them that more than 20,000 law enforcement personnel have been deputized for Biden’s inauguration, which is “the largest single deputization” handled by the marshal’s service, which oversees the swearing-in of officers serving at inaugural events.
The troopers’ salaries and all other expenses associated with sending them to Washington will be reimbursed by the Metropolitan Police Department, state police said.
Kentucky has sent a unit of troopers to the nation’s capitol to assist with every swearing-in since that of George W. Bush in 2005, state police said.
Security in Washington, D.C., has been tightened and the nation has been on edge since a group of pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol building earlier this month.
An estimated 25,000 National Guard troops have been deployed. Beshear said last week that 270 Kentucky National Guard troops were being sent to Washington, WHAS reported.
On Tuesday morning, rehearsals for Biden’s swearing-in ceremony were paused and the Capitol complex was briefly locked down because of a fire in a homeless camp about a mile away.
“The peaceful transfer of power is crucial to our democracy,” Gov. Andy Beshear said in a statement about the state police detail. “After the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and lawmakers, it is necessary that we ensure safety and security. Thank you to our KSP troopers for always providing exceptional service and protection to all citizens.”
In addition to command staff, the Trooper of the Year and Detective of the Year chosen by the commander of each of the 16 state police posts were sent to Washington as part of the detail.
“I am proud that KSP is continuing our long standing tradition of providing assistance with the presidential inauguration. Our agency is honored to help our nation in this official capacity,” Col. Phillip Burnett Jr., acting commissioner of the state police, said in the news release.
This story was originally published January 19, 2021 at 5:29 PM.
