EP 1: Shining The Brass

KSP Podcast Episode 1 Tpr. Corey King Welcome to the Kentucky State Police podcast. I'm Trooper Corey King, and this is where we go beyond the flashing lights and headlines to talk about the people behind the badge. Every trooper has a story: why they chose his career, what keeps them going, and what service really looks like on the toughest days. Here we will have real conversations about public safety, community, and the human side of law enforcement across the Commonwealth. So we're glad you're here. On this very first episode, our guest needs little introduction, arguably one of the most well-known person in the agency who is not Robert Purdy, my eastern brethren, Trooper Scottie Pennington. Scottie, welcome my friend. Tpr. Scottie Pennington Hey, thank you Corey. I'm glad to be here today. Tpr. Corey King Alright, so we talked on the phone just a little bit. We you and I, we really don't know anything about this podcast. This is new to us, new to the agency. And this morning, even though you and I have not discussed much about this podcast at all. Our I guess our question was, do we know the name for this podcast? Were you told of a name? Tpr. Scottie Pennington Not really. You know, what's funny is me and you have known each other for, for years. Tpr. Corey King Mhm. Tpr. Scottie Pennington And we've never really worked together. And you're from the western part of the state, and I'm from the eastern part of the state. We do the same job and we're in the same communication area, and we work the state fair together, but we really don't know each other that well. Tpr. Corey King And that's what's unique about this podcast, because I'm actually going to learn a little bit about Scottie, just like everybody else who's listening. We get to know more about you. And, you know, I wasn't being facetious when I said you're probably one of the most popular people in the agency. You really are. You have a big, strong social media presence. You're on the news almost daily, if not multiple times a day. You're really big in your community, and that's what makes you a really strong trooper in the eastern side of the state. So from us troops out in the West, we do appreciate all you do for us out in the eastern side. So yes, very strong, Scottie Pennington. Tpr. Scottie Pennington Thank you. Tpr. Corey King So, you know, one of the things, yes, we have known each other on a really a work basis. I didn't know you before. So really I get to know more about who you are. This is going to be enlightening to me and everyone else who's listening. So tell us who Scottie was before Kentucky State Police. Tpr. Scottie Pennington Wow. That's a great question. Scottie Pennington was an athlete. Scottie Pennington was a really good friend to people, somebody that cared about people, you know, played high school football. And after graduating from Madison Southern High School in Berea, you know, it's funny, I got most School Spirit Award in high school. Tpr. Corey King Now, what year was that? Tpr. Scottie Pennington That's a long time ago. I just turned fifty, Corey. Last week. Tpr. Corey King Behind you, my friend. Tpr. Scottie Pennington Nineteen ninety five, I graduated from Madison Southern High School in Berea, which is about twenty minutes down the road from here. You know, after high school, I went to Eastern Kentucky University, where we are today, and I played college football for Roy Kidd. You know, my grades went a little south. Had to had to make some tough decisions of what I wanted to do. I knew I always wanted to be a Kentucky State Trooper because my best friend, Toby Coyle, who is a retired Kentucky State trooper. Tpr. Corey King Coming out of my class, actually. Wow. Tpr. Scottie Pennington Yeah. His dad was a trooper, and he's the sheriff of this county. Mike Coyle. I basically stayed at their house a lot as a young kid, middle school to high school. And just seeing him come in. He was undercover for a while and had a big old beard. And then he guard the governor and, you know, would come in, his car would be muddy, and every day he'd go out there and clean that car. I'd go out there and clean the car for him because I didn't want him to go to work looking bad. And he would watch a UK ball game, or he'd watch a Western and he'd be shining that brass. And I really didn't know what why he did that as a young kid, but I do now. Tpr. Corey King Yeah. And for those folks that are listening, this is kind of really unique to our agency. When you mentioned shining the brass, people may not understand what that is, but really that is all our, um, trinkets that we have on a uniform, all the buttons, the nameplate, it's made of brass. And what's unique to our agency is that we shine those to make those look as good as they are. And oftentimes, I'm sure you have heard this too. We may go to a certain location, events, whatever it may be, and there'll be people who's not overly familiar with their agency and they may ask us, is that our parade dress? It's like, no, it's our everyday attire that we answer the calls of service in and it really shocks them. So yeah, so those folks that heard a trooper saying shining brass, that's exactly what that means, is that you physically shine this every single day before you go out. Tpr. Scottie Pennington You know, every, every trooper, every officer, you know, their uniform means something to them. I know we're kind of going off to the side of the subject, but you asked me, but you know, this badge is is retired trooper Mike Coyle's badge. It's his number. Tpr. Corey King Oh, wow. Tpr. Scottie Pennington It's his number. And he didn't give it to his son. His son and him chose me to wear it. And that, you know, I was in the academy when his dad Mike, retired. And I think Charlie Cornett come down to the classroom and pulled me out. And he said, you're going to get badge four eighty eight. And man. Tpr. Corey King I was emotional. Tpr. Scottie Pennington Yeah. because, you know, that person meant a lot to me. And the collar pins I wear, you know, it's retired. Uh, Lieutenant Don Gill, who died of cancer. He gave it to me before I went to the academy. And, you know, he has his son in law was a retired trooper, Dusty Hahn. His his daughter worked for the state police is a dispatcher and stuff. And then I have troopers that's fell: paid the ultimate sacrifice. I have buttons that they wore on their uniform that are on now on my uniform. Wow. And they go the same place every time I put it together. Tpr. Corey King That is amazing. Tpr. Scottie Pennington And other troopers and other officers have similar stories. Tpr. Corey King So your uniform is honorably piecemealed, of sorts. With so many people that come in contact with their life and has made a difference in your life. Let me ask you this. I'm not asking you when are you going to retire? But when you do, is there a forethought or is there a thought in your mind right now that, yes, I'm going to pass this item down to a trooper that followed you or anyone that you inspired to become a trooper or something that you have, that you're going to do the exact same thing with what they did for you. Tpr. Scottie Pennington You know, there's several out there that I look up to as young troopers, and I admire them and I admire the way they carry theirself, wear the uniform and the way they police, the way they present themselves in their communities. So there's two or three in the running. Tpr. Corey King Okay. Tpr. Scottie Pennington So two or three in the running. Tpr. Corey King I was going to say, you have really done a such a great job, really. I would call it an outreach of sorts to young prospects to either not even law enforcement, but to really become the next trooper cadet in our academy. You really touched so many lives in that way. So yes, there's no doubts that there are so many young cadets that either in the next class or has already graduated, that you have touched and made a difference in their lives. And they would they too, would be probably honored to have either your badge or some of your collar pins, something of that nature that they can carry a part of you with them every day in their shifts. That's amazing. Really. So, Scotty, what was the what year did you graduate from the State Police Academy and the class number? Tpr. Scottie Pennington So I'm going to back up on your question because I didn't answer your first question. So who's Scottie Pennington? So, you know, after leaving Eastern Kentucky University, I joined the United States military. I spent four and a half years in Oklahoma as a soldier. So while in Oklahoma, I went to a local police department where I knew the chief I'd heard was from Paint Lick, Kentucky, which is right down the road from where right now he was the chief of this place called Geronimo PD. And I'm not making that up. Geronimo PD. Tpr. Corey King I'm looking that up the phone right now. Tpr. Scottie Pennington Yeah. So just just a small community and actually got pulled over twice going in and going out. But I met the chief. We actually knew we didn't know each other, but our family knew each other. And I joined that police department as a reserve police officer for about two years while I was a soldier in the military. I remember my first bag of marijuana that I got. I called Mike Coyle and I said, I've saved the world. I was so excited. You know, being a young policeman and going through a little small academy that they had and doing something, you know, a little small bag of marijuana meant a lot to me just to make that phone call. Tpr. Corey King Now, what years was this, roughly? Tpr. Scottie Pennington Oh, man. Ninety six. Ninety seven. Tpr. Corey King Oh, yeah. Tpr. Scottie Pennington Yeah, a long time ago. Tpr. Corey King Yeah. Tpr. Scottie Pennington But while in the military. I met a lady� and now she's my wife. Tpr. Corey King Amazing how many years now? Tpr. Scottie Pennington Oh, man. Don't. I'm gonna get in trouble. Tpr. Corey King Okay, we'll edit John. We'll edit that out. Tpr. Scottie Pennington But we've been together over thirty years. Tpr. Corey King Wow. Tpr. Scottie Pennington And I told her, I said, we're moving to God's country. So I took her to Jackson County. She said, God might live up here, but I'm living closer to town. So, um, we got married when I graduated the State Police Academy in two thousand and four. Tpr. Corey King In o four. Tpr. Scottie Pennington But let's let's back up there. I, I was a Berea police officer. I went to class three hundred and five here at DOCJT. Tpr. Corey King Oh, wow. Tpr. Scottie Pennington I was a policeman for two and a half years and, um. Tpr. Corey King A lot of experience. Tpr. Scottie Pennington Had some great times at Berea, had some great leadership. The chief Ray Brandenburg, he was a great chief. And Lieutenant Rick Bates, who's now my neighbor, one of the best supervisors I've ever had, in the military, anything. He was just a great human being and taught me a lot. Amazing about being a policeman. Tpr. Corey King You know, just the the work years that I have known you and not taking anything away from your previous law enforcement experience. But it seems to me that you literally bleed gray. You were meant for this uniform. You were meant to be a trooper in the eastern part of the States. Would you agree with that? Tpr. Scottie Pennington I've had some rough times, but I've had a lot of great times. I enjoy being a trooper now. There's some sad times. There's some times that you get aggravated and there's times that, you know, you talk about retirement, You know that that is that goes through my head daily. Do I want to retire or do I love the job more than I would love staying home, being retired? I mean, it's it's tough. Tpr. Corey King I don't think people really I, I think I underestimated that when I started in the year two thousand, uh, for me, it was the love of the job, wanted to give back to the community and serving in some capacity, which was the, this is the greatest honor to serve your community. Law enforcement is by far, I think, the way to do it. But I never thought about what it's like to. Okay, now you're going to retire and that goes away. I underestimated that feeling of of sorts. Those many the years I was one of the youngest ones in my class. And so my whole adult life essentially was a trooper. And that's your identity of sorts. And I think that that knowing that all of a sudden that part of you is no longer there. It is intimidating. It's scary, really. Tpr. Scottie Pennington It's very scary. I look out my window sometimes and make sure the car is still sitting out there, and I close my eyes and say, what if it wasn't there? Because it is your identity, you know? I do a lot of stuff in my community coaching sports and stuff like that. But people know me as, as I guess Trooper Scottie, you know, and there's some good and bad with that. Tpr. Corey King One hundred percent. Tpr. Scottie Pennington I mean, people call you all the time. They don't call post. They have they have your cell phone and they keep that cell phone. Good people, bad people, people you put in jail. And, you know, there's some burden with it. But yeah, I enjoy helping people. Tpr. Corey King Sure. Tpr. Corey King In being that person for them during that time. And then when you retire, you literally had to find a new sense of identity, a new self, a new sense of purpose in your life. No doubt that you will have that. But yeah, as two older troopers sitting here talking, that's really relative in how the mindset is at our age in this agency where we have eligible able to retire. I think that's something that really we have to, especially the older units, the older troopers, the older law enforcement officers, that's what really is going through their head. I look forward to it, but I think there is that sense of loss and that's what it is and it must be mourned. We are going to take a brief pause for a quick message. Voiceover We are hiring. Apply today. Go to join KSP dot com. Tpr. Corey King Welcome back to the Kentucky State Police Podcast. So you you come out of in zero four and what what class, what number was that? Tpr. Scottie Pennington It was class eighty-one. I tried to get in, I think class seventy-nine or something. I was driving home from Oklahoma and they were testing the last test date. And my cousin, Trooper Bubba Botkin, who went to Henderson. Tpr. Corey King Yes, coming out of my class. Yeah. Him and I were roommates together, actually, in the cadet class seventy seven. Yeah. Shout out to Bubba. Tpr. Scottie Pennington Him and Toby. I was trying to test for that class, but that was the last testing day. So I drove back that night and worked at the jail the same night I, oh, I forgot, I worked at the Madison County Detention Center for for I went to police. Uh, I worked there for a year. Then the state police had a hiring freeze. Tpr. Corey King I remember that. Tpr. Scottie Pennington For about two and a half years. So that's why I worked at the jail. Then I went to Berea Police for two and a half years, and then the state police opened it back up. Tpr. Corey King Wow. Yeah. Wow. Well, if you can recall and think back, those academy years, okay, that they during that time of o-four and cadet class eighty-one, that was your you only applied once, right? Applied once got into cadet class eighty-one. Think back to that, that year of oh four. What was your worst and best memories that you can recall during your Academy class? Tpr. Scottie Pennington Wow. That's wow. What a question. Tpr. Corey King I have them too. Tpr. Scottie Pennington You know, day one, God almighty. Day One. You can tell a young person, hey, you need to go do push-ups now. You need to run, you need to do CrossFit. You need to eat a little better. You need to quit chewing tobacco. You need to quit drinking energy drinks. You can tell them all that stuff. But when you get to that academy, all that stuff that that guy just told you, he didn't tell you half the stuff? Tpr. Corey King No. Tpr. Scottie Pennington He didn't tell you what was coming. A storm was coming. You know, you just had to bear it. You know, I was in the Army. I was in the military for almost five years. The state police was the Military Times four on steroids. Tpr. Corey King Mhm. Tpr. Scottie Pennington I mean, boot camp. Boot camp was hard. You meet people from all over the world that don't speak your language. You don't know anybody. You're scared because you flew in on a plane, then you got on. There's a lot of similarities to the state police academy. Tpr. Corey King When did yours start? Was it as soon as you walked in the door? Tpr. Scottie Pennington Yeah, I can remember the trooper. I can remember him telling me, how'd you get in the how was you in the military? You were so big. And I said, sir, the military need big people too. And he said, oh, we got a smart aleck here. He said a few words, but he said, we got smart aleck here, go over and do push ups. Tpr. Corey King Yep. That's. And that was as soon as you walked in the door. Tpr. Scottie Pennington Okay. As soon as. Tpr. Corey King That's the erroneous information that was given to me by another trooper out far West. Right. So he told me, just be prepared for it. I knew that, but I didn't know day one would be it. I thought it'd be more like an orientation of sorts. Right? And that's where I failed. So I'll call out some old names here, you might remember. So Mike Williams, Richie Wright, and myself come from the Mayfield post. Right? So we carpooled together and this is June of two thousand. And of course, coming from a different time zone, we're like five hours away anyway from Frankfort. So apparently we were a little behind or late. I was not aware of that, but all three of us walked in the door at the same time. Okay, so you'll know this name. Tony. Terry? Yes, sir. Tony. Terry. Okay, so he was across the hall as you walk in the door there. And there's that big seal. And I should have picked up on his tone. That's where I was just so excited to be there. I didn't understand his tone, but he had that campaign hat down where he couldn't see his eyes. Okay. But he said, I'm glad you guys can make it as he was marching towards us. Me being such a PR guy that I am, I just thought he was being welcoming in his own way. So I waved at him and said, thanks for having us. I swore at that moment I saw flames, smoke, and horns come out of that campaign hat at that moment, but either way, I did push ups just like you. As soon as I walked in the door and learnt my lesson. But Tony Terry, great guy. Oh, a lot of respect. Mad respect for that guy. Tpr. Scottie Pennington You know a lot of stories with him. He was the type of person you hated to see him coming, but you wanted to consume him after he got there. You wanted to take everything in because you felt that he really cared about you. Tpr. Corey King He did? Absolutely. Tpr. Scottie Pennington If you did wrong, he really cared about you, too. It's kind of like growing up as a kid. You're my kid. Nobody else can say something to you, but I can say something to you, right? And he was kind of like a father figure in that academy. I mean. Tpr. Corey King Yeah, of course, he was a military drill instructor anyway, so he had that knack about him to be able to really break you down, but build you up, if that makes sense. But he also always made a reference to you may not like me here, but that's okay because I'm going to make sure you get home at night. Tpr. Scottie Pennington Yep. I mean, there's probably a lot of troopers that's been in some bad situations that maybe they wouldn't have made it home. But our training, our instructors up there, they put you in the worst scenarios, the stressful situations, so you can come home at night. And when you talk about a good situation or bad situation at the academy, you know, day one is awful. Week two is when your bed goes out the window and your shoes are tied together. And I mean, you think you're going home and you get dressed in your nice suit and you get out there ready to go home, and they tell you to go back in and change into your PT gear and you get, you know. Tpr. Corey King Did you ever have parts to your bed in the toilet tank? Well, that's where I found mine. Tpr. Scottie Pennington But I had them out the window, had them hanging out the window. But you know, the academy, you know, going in, there's so many, um, unknowns, but the friendships, the bonds. You talk about Bubba and Toby, you know, you might not have seen them in fifteen, ten. You see them in, in service and you're like a bunch of kids. You're like, right. You see your brother that you went through hell with. Tpr. Corey King It's exactly what it is. It's your brother. Tpr. Scottie Pennington And. Tpr. Corey King Your sisters. Yeah. Tpr. Scottie Pennington And even the young troopers, you know, going to a call or situation, you know, you feel a calm when you know, a trooper is coming to you. You might not even went to academy with him. You don't even know his name. But you know, a trooper is coming to back you up on a situation that's had the same training. Tpr. Corey King Same experiences that we all had. Tpr. Scottie Pennington The same push ups, been in the same stressful situations. That means a lot. Tpr. Corey King One hundred percent it does. Tpr. Scottie Pennington And it's no different than, you know, I worked the detail last week and I seen the FBI and I worked around five or six FBI guys. They're kind of like us, kind of like little kids. When they seen each other, they were happy to see each other. You know, when troopers, when you don't, because you don't work together a whole lot. You know, you get in these rural counties, you're by yourself. So when you do get together, you'll know as well as I do when we work the road we went and ate together and we went and road checked. Tpr. Corey King Oh yeah, the road check was yeah. Tpr. Scottie Pennington Road checking and and building a bond with road check. Tpr. Corey King With a bonding moment. Yeah. Tpr. Scottie Pennington The bonding with the trooper ones you don't know that good. And bonding with the community just, you know, you're not just there road checking to write a ticket. You're seeing people. Tpr. Corey King People and you're bonding with your partners there. Tpr. Scottie Pennington You're high fiving kids that come through there. You're talking to older people and them telling you, hey, what's going on in their little community. It's kind of like a PR thing. And I used to love road checking. And even if there was a deputy or city officer, come and invite them. Get to know a little bit about them too, and maybe recruit them. Tpr. Corey King Yeah. Perfect. You're talking about doing those, uh, roadside safety checks. Uh, I couldn't tell you how many times I'm sure it's happened to you, too. Uh, but I've had so many people shake my hand and thank us for being there and just that interaction and getting to see the people who really love and support who you are and get to know you even more. That's just one way to really get to know your community and know the people in the community, but see your presence as well. And that means a lot. Tpr. Scottie Pennington When I FTO�d people that was the first thing we went done, I want to see how I want to see, especially these young troopers. They live on that cell phone, right? I want to see how they can interact with people. Tpr. Corey King Yes. Tpr. Scottie Pennington And it's the best tool. Tpr. Corey King Best opportunity right. Tpr. Scottie Pennington And it's a teaching tool because they might be a little rigid. Where's your license and insurance? Tpr. Corey King And that's where you can talk to them like, hey, you know, tone it down a little bit and it's okay. But these are really good people in our community, and this is the opportunity for them to get to see who you are too. And knowing how to mold between the two lives, I guess, if you will, you're dealing with all the bad things on one side, but you deal with the good things too, and knowing how to switch that back to conform to such settings. Very important. And I never thought about that, Scottie, but a road check is is one good way of doing that. Tpr. Scottie Pennington Yeah. Tpr. Corey King Perfect way. Tpr. Scottie Pennington I use it as a tool when I was FTO�ing, and just to know my community. But you know, the probably the greatest day in the state police academy and, and I don't know if this class got to do it. And I hope they will invite them back. Maybe when they take their six months test or whatever, going to the Capitol and getting sworn in and singing, you know, My Old Kentucky Home saying that Troopers Creed in that rotunda. Tpr. Scottie Pennington I mean, it still brings chills down my back today. I used to work at the legislative detail and work with the Governor's Office a lot. Just walking those halls and seeing, you know, you talk about the brass in that building, the brass signs off that marble, getting to see troopers come in there and singing that and doing that. Man, it brings chills, you know. Tpr. Corey King And it's one of those things. I'm sure you're like me. You really don't want to hear me sing. You really don't. But when you have everyone in rhythm and to hear the echo in that rotunda, it really did. The hair in the back of your neck stand up. Tpr. Scottie Pennington Man, you know, I don't know about your class. We started practicing those, like week one, week one, before you went to bed, you sung those two songs because at the end, when you graduated or you got sworn in, it was perfect. Yeah. And those are little things. That's the little I can't pinpoint what was special or what was rough. I'm fifty years old, and if they said, you got to go back to the academy. God almighty, I don't know. Tpr. Corey King I'm sorry, Scottie. Tpr. Scottie Pennington But if my body could do it, I would do it because I love the agency and I love this uniform, but I don't know if I could make it. Tpr. Corey King Yeah, I'm with you on that, too. You know, you and I, speaking earlier. We're talking about you're fifty years old. I'm. I'm shortly behind you. right? I really do feel that through the years that does make a difference. Although I do recall having some cadets in my class that were well over fifty and I'm thinking, wow. Tpr. Scottie Pennington I had a I'll say a name. He was a command sergeant major. He was retiring the day he graduated, he flew to DC and got an award for Barack Obama, Silfies. Tpr. Corey King Oh yes. Yes. Tpr. Scottie Pennington Yeah. He's he's passed away. Tpr. Corey King Rest in peace, Steve. Yeah, yeah. Really. Tpr. Scottie Pennington But but he was that guy in our class. He was like forty-nine-year-old, a machine. Tpr. Corey King No doubt. Tpr. Scottie Pennington Made trooper of the year the first year he. Tpr. Corey King Was on. Went to Madisonville Post, uh, down post two. Tpr. Scottie Pennington I think he saw seven unsolved murders. Tpr. Corey King Mhm. Tpr. Scottie Pennington Early on in his career. Tpr. Corey King Very knowledgeable. Tpr. Scottie Pennington Yes, sir. Tpr. Corey King Uh, we certainly missed. Trooper Scottie. Uh, thank you for your service and sharing your story with us today. We are just getting started. To everyone listening. Thank you for joining us. Stay safe. Take care of each other, and we'll see you next time.