Lt. Gov. Coleman Breaks Ground on New Drivers’ Skills Pad at Kentucky State Police Training Academy
$2.7 million project will provide enhanced training that will protect troopers while increasing public safety
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Sept. 19, 2025) – Today, Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman took another step forward in building a safer New Kentucky Home by joining the Kentucky State Police to break ground on a new, state-of-the-art Drivers’ Skills Pad at the agency’s training academy in Frankfort. The $2.7 million project will provide troopers, officers and cadets with a facility dedicated to safely practice and refine advanced driving techniques.
“The safety of our law enforcement heroes and our roadways is a top priority of Team Kentucky, and this project helps us make sure more Kentuckians get home safe,” Lt. Gov. Coleman said. “Thank you to those who helped us make this project a reality. This Skills Pad will build on the significant, meaningful progress we’ve made in recent years in creating a safer New Kentucky Home.”
The new skills pad, a professionally engineered, paved driving course, will serve as a controlled training environment where law enforcement personnel can master critical vehicle operations such as high-speed pursuit driving, evasive maneuvers, pursuit intervention techniques and emergency response driving with lights and sirens. These training exercises are designed to improve officer performance, reduce crashes and enhance public safety across the commonwealth.
“The Kentucky State Police has lost 37 heroes in the line of duty, with 46% of those being from vehicle-related crashes,” said Kentucky State Police Commissioner Phillip Burnett Jr. “By providing a dedicated venue for advanced driver training, we are providing our personnel the tools they need to respond safely and effectively to emergencies. More importantly, we believe it will save lives while enhancing public safety.”
For years, the agency has relied on borrowed facilities across Kentucky and in neighboring states to complete this essential training. The new skills pad will allow troopers to train year-round at the academy, eliminating travel time and providing a safer, more efficient setting for instruction. The course will also be available to other law enforcement agencies, helping raise the overall standard of police driver training across the commonwealth.
“This project represents the kind of investment state government should be making,” Senator Chris McDaniel said. “The legislature was glad to step up with state funding so the skills pad project could move forward. At the same time, it must be noted that the generosity of families and community supporters—including funds established by a dear friend to many, the late Judy Taylor—will help provide needs that make this training site even stronger. Together, this partnership ensures future Kentucky State Police cadets have the best possible preparation to protect and serve communities across our commonwealth.”
On June 23, 2015, Trooper Eric Chrisman was fatally injured in a vehicle collision while en route to a reckless driving complaint in Livingston County. Trooper Chrisman’s parents, Randy and Dawn, visit each cadet class during driver training week to share their son’s story and stress the importance of safe driving practices. The Chrismans’ continued commitment to the agency has become an essential part of the academy’s efforts to instill a culture of safety in future troopers.
“The skills pad will undoubtedly decrease vehicle crashes for troopers and officers,” Randy Chrisman said. “I don’t want another family to experience what we have over the loss of Eric.”
The Drivers’ Skills Pad is expected to be completed by June 2026.
The Beshear-Coleman administration has taken several steps to support law enforcement while ensuring Kentuckians are safe and feel safe in our new Kentucky home.
In April, the Governor officially opened the doors to the new law enforcement training facility named in honor of Jody Cash, who lost his life in the line of duty May 16, 2022, while serving as chief deputy of the Calloway County Sheriff’s Office. The Jody Cash Multipurpose Training Facility is a 42,794-square-foot facility with a 50-yard, 30-lane firing range designed for officers to learn intensive and specialized training. This facility will support training for all of Kentucky’s law enforcement agencies.
Since taking office, Gov. Beshear has awarded more than $12 million in grant funding to assist state and local law enforcement agencies with enhancing public and officer safety, curbing the sale of illegal drugs and fighting addiction, and more than $149 million in grant funding to victim service agencies across the commonwealth.
Recently, Gov. Beshear announced that Kentucky has secured another low recidivism rate. Nearly 70% of people released from state custody over the past two years have not been re-incarcerated.
The 2024 Crime in Kentucky report, released in June, shows that from 2023 to 2024, of the 23 categories, 17 saw a decrease in crimes reported, indicating an overall decrease of 7.66% in reports of serious, Category A crime. Some of the notable data indicates an 11.55% decrease in drug/narcotic offenses, a 12.7% decrease in homicide offenses and a 13.78% decrease in sex offenses.
In May, Gov. Beshear highlighted that the 2024 Kentucky Drug Overdose Fatality Report chronicled a 30.2% decrease in drug overdose deaths last year in the commonwealth. This is the third consecutive annual decrease.
At the beginning of his second term, the Governor proposed a $500 increase to the law enforcement annual training stipend, but the General Assembly chose to provide a combined $262 increase over the next two years. The budget signed by the Governor raises the training stipend to an all-time high of $4,562 by fiscal year 2026. Additionally, the Governor is providing part-time law enforcement officers an annual training stipend for the first time in the history of the commonwealth.
Also, as the Governor recommended in January 2022, $12.2 million was included in the state budget for KSP to purchase body cameras, which is the first time in the commonwealth’s history that funding has been allocated for this much-needed expense.
For more information about KSP’s commitment to creating a better Kentucky by making the commonwealth’s streets safer, communities stronger and the nation more secure by providing exceptional law enforcement, click here.
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