EP 5: What Is Your Why?

Untitled - September 3, 2026 00:00:00 Corey King: Welcome back to the Kentucky State Police Podcast. Today, we pick up with Captain Robert Purdy to discuss more about his career and experiences. Captain. Welcome back. Thanks for having me. You know, so I've been on this agency for twenty six years. And, um, going back to what you were talking about when you, uh, were in recruitment and they had this Velcro poster board with, uh, I mean, I would say eighties photos. Oh, yeah. Okay. So I pulled one of those out the closet when I first became the Pao and that was like oh eight oh nine, something like that. Sure. And I saw that and couldn't help but to laugh. I thought, this is it really. We didn't have to invest in anything back years ago because the agency literally sold itself. People were, uh, I think my class, we might have had fifteen hundred two thousand applicants. Quite a bit. And it's kind of slowly went down. But that is where I would say probably if I had to look back in the years and say, who's made a difference selling our agency, I would point my finger at you. I think that's where I know you don't want to take it, but and I really don't want to give you a compliment. But here's the thing, Robert, you did. And that is where you push the envelope during a time that it needed and really changed the face of how Kentucky State Police now advertises and publishes itself versus the nineteen seventies photos in the middle of a high school gym floor. Social media. Even though I'm not a social media fan at all. And yes, you really pushed me into that. But that is one of those things that really changed the agency online. And, and I think that's where we're going here. Okay. So you, you went from a road trooper to recruitment and here you are. Now, I think this moment in your career is probably what put Robert Purdy on the map. Yeah. So I went back to the road and in the post commander at the time, our POW, Paul Blanton, was getting ready to leave post and come to headquarters. And honestly, I'm even back up a little bit because you say I changed a lot of things, but I don't know if you recall, I was probably in recruitment at the time when trooper for a day came out. You remember trooper? No, I wasn't in it. You were in it, weren't you? Oh, okay. Yes, yes, I was the first video we filmed that. And so that was probably the start of our agency looking forward. So I was just trying to follow in your footsteps. Uh, Corey, I'll be honest, but it really. No, I forgot about it. Yeah. That's funny, but yes, that, uh, that was one of those things where it was new for this agency to try something like that. And I think it was, uh, Rick Saint-blancard who was over at the moment. That was his vision, I guess. Yeah. It was him or, uh, the commissioner at the time, I think, uh, David Jude was in public affairs as well. And I think maybe International Association of Chiefs of Police. The commissioner had gone to one of their conferences and saw this and thought, hey, we need to we need to do something a little bit different. And so that was honestly probably that that turning point. It wasn't me. It was the agency trying to have a vision to look forward and say, hey, social media is coming. What are we going to do? And early on, I mean, it was it was a rocky start at points. But Lisa Radzinski said, hey, I want you to be the next Pao. And I said, hey, I don't want to do it. I just got out of an office job. I like what I'm doing. And, and she asked me multiple times and finally nobody else wanted it. And I thought, well, then I'll, I'll go ahead and do it. My next post commander that came in, I said, what do you want from your Pao? And he said, I want you to be out in the community making a difference. I don't need you to sit in a post because that's not where public affairs happens. I'm a result, um, today of the leaders that I had throughout my career. And I think that's important because none of these are my plans. The doors have been opened in the agency for me to walk through. And I said early in my career, whatever doors are open, I'm going to walk through because, you know, you never know what's going to be there and how it's going to change you. And so I became the Pao of the Richmond State Police Post. I got out to started, started talking, I started teaching, I started doing a lot of drug presentations. We've got a drug presentation now called Hiding in Plain Sight and still to this day. And destructive decisions, good programs. And frankly, those, those came about. Um, and I know I'm probably saying more than what you're necessarily looking for, but it's important to keep in mind that the experiences you have and the people that you meet on the side of the road that their stories have to live on when they don't. And so I can, I can think of a young lady that I arrested for, you know, drugs. And fast forward about six or eight months, nothing had happened. I saw her sister someplace. I asked how this lady was doing and she said, you didn't hear? And I said, no, I didn't hear. And she said she passed away. And it was probably one of the few people that that had a drug addiction or controlled substance use disorder that I thought, hey, there's a future for them. They can get themselves clean. And it didn't. And so those drug presentations were a way for me to try to tell her story in hopes of seeing at least one person not walk down that same path. Mhm. And so I think that if you, if you just walk through the career and the job and you don't don't pay attention to those things and those stories, then you miss the opportunity to help people down the road. And so it was kind of an opportunity for me to look upstream and say, what's going on? Why are people walking down this path that resulted in those drug presentations that we do and assemblies? And I'll never forget it. One of the first times I gave that presentation, destructive decisions was at Madison Central High School, and they wanted all the students to take it, but they had to do it by, by class because there was about five or six hundred people in every grade level. And I gave it and, and I told the stories that I was telling. And at the end, it was kind of a call to action. I said, hey, if you're willing to, to stand up with me to end drug addiction, stand up out of your seat. If your parents have addictions and it's up to you to break the chain, stand up out of your seat and set a couple other things. And every every person in the auditorium stood up. Wow. And hearing the seat backs, you know, start as everybody rose. Um, it was a moving moment for me. Um, and at that moment, I got to tell him that, hey, you may not hear it from anybody else, but I love you, and I care about you, and I want you to do well, and I want you to succeed. And and it was really one of those times that I thought, man, I, I'm a, I'm a socially awkward introvert that is afraid to get up on stage and give a presentation. I never would in high school or college. And here I am using the gifts that God has given me to hopefully make an impact and to change some lives. Thank you for bringing that up. I actually have it written down here to bring that up. You and I, during the height of the notorious State Fair videos, we became close and we got talking and I said, Robert, how how can you do that? How do you have this vision to do stuff, carry this stuff out? And I remember you looking at me and I tell people this story to help them through some of those fears. Uh, like, well, the number one fear is public speaking and no surprise, it is intimidating. Sure. But I tell people this that no matter what you are dealing with, if you struggle with getting up and speaking in front of people, whatever it is, I'll tell them your story. I said, I have a friend. He's a trooper today. I said he was homeschooled. He considers himself as an introvert and absolutely feared public speaking. I said he is the most known man on all KSP social media platforms, and I said he has re-envisioned how we present drug programs across the state because of that one program you just mentioned, that is implemented in all sixteen posts across the Commonwealth is because of you, the man who feared public speaking and is all over the TV and radio, and now it has auditoriums on their feet. And I tell people, you too can be Robert Purdie. So that that says a lot. I like that you have that that ability to that grit to say, I fear this, but I'm going to conquer this. Yeah. I think once you once you figure out and this is going to apply to the new generation coming in, but once you figure out your why, right? Like why is it that I do what I do? Once you have that, you can then share and spread your why with other people and hopefully use that to encourage, to motivate and to change behaviors for the better. You know, I learned early on that while public affairs or while public speaking, I don't want to say made me scared, but it's the same. I don't know, physiological changes as excitement. Your your heart rate goes up, you get the little butterflies in your stomach. So I would actually listen to music before walking out because I was like, instead of being scared, I need to be excited. Um, and then I would go out and, and make a, make a presentation, but hopefully just in the end, people would see, hey, I'm going to listen to this guy because he does care. And, and hopefully that comes across in everything that I do. I want the best for people. I want the best for the agency. I want the best for troopers, for people in my community, for anybody struggling with addictions. I want to see them turn their life around because they can make a difference. And, and you don't see that every day in this job. It's normally years down the road. Um, and since, since all of these things have happened, my DUI arrests, my drug arrest, I've had people that I've arrested in the past walk up to me. One was at a bank. He was sitting down when I walked in and he stood up and I thought, oh boy, what's this guy going to say? And he walked over. He shook my hand. He said, hey, I want to say thank you. I said, for what? He said, I because of you. Uh, the fact that you arrested me, you treated me with respect. You opened my eyes to see that the path that I was on was a dead end path. I've got clean and sober. I've got my kids back. I've got a job, and I've turned my life around. And hearing those stories is like, hey, it it worked, right? Like the job that I did, the sacrifices that I made, the time away from family, the pain, the tears, the the stress, all of it. And if I didn't help anybody else, that one guy is making a difference now. Um, where he's at because of the interaction. And I could tell you countless stories. There's people that are in law enforcement because of because I arrested them for DUI. And then they're like, hey, you know what? I need to turn my life around. And now they're now they're a police officer or a business owner or a community leader. And it's, it is incredible. And it's humbling to see the fruits of the labor that we have. And it's like, those are my stories. But I know that every single person in this agency has the same stories. And the impact that the Kentucky State Police has made since nineteen forty eight, it would be impossible to put a number on how many lives have been saved and and turned around because of what we do. Perhaps not everyone looks at it the way we do. But here's the thing. If you see a police officer working that beat inside of them, They are fulfilling that why within their community. If you are a police officer wondering why you're doing this job, you haven't yet found it. Look for your why. You gotta really think about it like this I what I am doing. It may not seem like it's much, but I am investing in my community to change that one person. And I don't think people really get to see that in police officers. I think that's the importance of social media. The importance of this podcast is now getting to see the human behind the badge. And I think you said it perfectly. That's that is Robert Purdy's take. But here's the thing. There are so many other troopers and officers out here that feel the same thing and has made difference and touched lives, and those people directly know it. And I think that's the importance of this podcast is getting to hear it. So those folks who have never had the ability to contact or communicate with a trooper or a law enforcement officer, get to know them as a neighbor, perhaps this is why we do what we do. Yeah. You know, you mentioned, uh, you know, kind of the, uh, humanizing or the human behind the badge. You know, I think that there's a couple different, different ways that I'm looking at going with this. And the first is I've been in supervision for the last six or seven years with the agency. And during that time as a squad sergeant and now as a post commander, my big thing is understanding that I want every person there to think that your gifts, your talents, your abilities, the things that you enjoy to do, the enforcement actions you're going to take, they all look different. Um, I want you to go be the best version of yourself for the communities that we serve. Um, and realistically, that's the goal. We don't need cookie cutter. Everybody's going to be the same way. Every person needs to find their why, what it is that they're good at their gifts, their talents and apply those now. Sure, there's going to be things we have to do that we're not good at, but on a daily basis, if you can help people find their why and what makes them tick, then you're going to have a successful agency. And that's kind of my, my take and my philosophy, uh, of leadership and the things that I've learned and taken away from the roles that I have. But, you know, we go back to humanizing the badge early on in our, uh, public affairs days, you know, social media started getting kicked off and they said, hey, we, we want you everybody to have a Facebook or Twitter or something. Um, you know, put some information out, you know, frankly, it, uh, it's where people are and my, my why at that point, I've tried to write mission statements for myself, depending on which role I'm in. And when I worked in public affairs and was on social media, uh, my why was I want to conduct myself in such a way That if, uh, any trooper does something questionable, not blatantly wrong. The public that I've been able to establish this social media relationship with would sit back and go, what if Robert Purdy done that? And they're going to use the connection that I have with them and the positive things that I'm doing to make an assumption that that trooper is probably out trying to do the best job that he can to make a difference in his community. And so I tried to live every day and, and some of the stuff that that I did on social media was probably crossing the line at at certain times. But, um, it was all done with the heart and intent of sharing a good message, sharing a highway safety message, sharing a agency message, um, in hopes of, you know, saving lives of, uh, people looking at our troopers a little bit different because frankly, if you're on the side of the road and you get pulled over, those aren't the opportunities where someone really gets to know the person that has them pulled over. Um, they never get to see the husband, uh, the dad, the mom, um, you know, the whatever fill in the blank, the, the coach, um, the community member, the whatever that this person really is on the inside. They only get to see this highly polished, sharp Kentucky State Police uniform with a campaign hat that, you know, I had to lots of blood, sweat and tears over twenty two weeks to earn the right to wear. People see that and they don't get to see the the person behind it. So I try to use social media as that, that nexus and that opportunity to create a relationship with people that I will probably never have have the opportunity to meet. Um, and, uh, and it was, it was really, it was really neat. And I think that's what really transformed media relations of sorts within us. Uh, you really have made a name for yourself, uh, using humor and storytelling on social media to promote either highway safety or some type of safety message. Right. Uh, why was it important to you to break down those traditional and rigid barriers that law enforcement often has, but yet humanize the badge for the citizenry of the Commonwealth or and beyond? So there's two thoughts there. Or there's two camps. You're going to agree with this. So you have the rigid look that law enforcement expects. Most generally. What I have noticed that comes within law enforcement, uh, they want this rigid, uh, message and that's it. But then that doesn't resonate with the, the people you want to get that message. So you had to somehow humanize those messages. Uh, so how do you how did you juggle the two? Where did it come to you? Where you're like, this is, this is how I'm going to get this message to the people that need to hear it. You know, I think that law enforcement for a long time has been speaking at people rather than talking with people. We create a narrative or a message that is a one way communication, which works for a lot of the things that we do. It works for sharing information about a crime. It works for a sharing information about an upcoming highway enforcement detail. It's sharing information about whatever is going on. But it doesn't it doesn't allow that opportunity for a two way flow of communication. Whereas I think in social media, when done properly, you can create that back and forth kind of dialogue and people can say, hey, hey, you know, he's not just talking at me. He's, he's sharing information that I can connect with and through the platforms I was able to, you know, share incredible stories of not what I was doing necessarily, but what other troopers of the post were coming across and seeing and experiencing. You know, there was, uh, um, someone who I had to arrest early on in my career. I had arrested multiple times, but later on, you know, he turned his I thought he turned his life around. I'd see him at the grocery store and he was doing well. And then I found out one day that, uh, he had taken his own life. Uh, and it, and it crushed. It crushed me. And so just from that point, I thought, I need to, I need to share a little bit of his story and hopefully help other people who are walking through a similar, you know, kind of struggle that he has to go. Hey, you know what? Today may be a hard day, but it doesn't have to be my last day. And, uh, I shared it just, just to hopefully help other people. And, and then I was asked to come speak at his funeral, which was an incredibly humbling experience because, you know, I had seen him in his worst days, but I also wanted to share the message of of hope and that, uh, you know, you may be struggling and you don't have to make those, those kind of decisions. And so it's, it's those kind of messages that aren't necessarily being shared by law enforcement. They don't get to see the, the pain, the struggles, uh, the sadness of some of the things that we, we do. They just see us as stoic. And there's a place for that most of the time. But, uh, it takes a lot of vulnerability, I think, in order to sit back and, and be able to, to just share a message of, of discomfort, of pain, of sadness, because that's real. Um, you know, especially in today's day and time with AI, there's a lot of fakeness that is out there. And I think there's a lot of people just searching for real conversations for real things. And, and hopefully we're using social media to make those impacts and those differences. And I've, and I've sat back, I've been out of public affairs now going on six years, and I haven't spent I haven't made many posts on social media. Um, but I get to see the fruits of hopefully what we started in our new generation of public affairs officers and the things that they're doing. And honestly, it's exciting to sit down with you today and do this podcast because this is something that, you know, we had talked about six years ago when I was a trooper at at the Public Affairs branch, and it just wasn't the right time. And I'm excited to, to see this continue to flourish and move forward. Oh, yeah. And I think you said it really the best is being vulnerable. That's so hard to do, especially in law enforcement. Uh, the, the two camps that we talked about, uh, the rigid style and the humanizing style, being vulnerable, being real with people because people can connect on a, a human level to see that you're, you're actually sharing things versus talking at them. And I think sadly, that's where law enforcement suffers. Uh, many law enforcement officers. No surprise. You can look the stats up. Die by suicide. They keep everything inside. They do not show that vulnerable side of being human because they don't want to show that they're human. They feel like they're different in some way. And I think that's where some pushback comes when you start seeing law enforcement moving over to that vulnerable side of sorts to be more humanizing. But that's where you need the message to go. Well, you often spoke about the idea that no matter a person's circumstances, everyone is important and everyone deserves kindness. I think that philosophy shines through in everything you do, from the badge you wear to the to the businesses you fund and support. I thank you for taking the time to share your stories with us today, and thank you for your continued service. Folks, that's Captain Robert Purdy. In closing, please support your local businesses. Be kind to one another and we will see you next time. So long folks.