LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The head of Kentucky State Police is stepping down days after a report surfaced about old training materials the agency used that encouraged cadets to be “ruthless” and quoted Adolf Hitler.
Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet spokeswoman Morgan Hall said Police Commissioner Rodney Brewer’s resignation is effective Wednesday.
Brewer is a two time commissioner and was appointed by current Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear earlier this year.
She did not address why Brewer is stepping down but says Lt. Col. Phillip Burnett was selected to be acting commissioner.
The resignation comes just days after student journalists from duPont Manual High School here in Louisville, published a report within the Manual Redeye that revealed old training materials used by KSP during one class in 2013. They quoted Adolph Hitler and urged cadets to be ruthless killers.
Gov. Andy Beshear said in a statement Monday that officials believe the presentation was shown only once, “but it is absolutely and totally unacceptable.”
"There is no rational or reason that is ever okay," Beshear said.
On Tuesday the Governor said they are conducting a broader search for a new commissioner and will be doing a top to bottom review of training material's.
"We have identified at least one other power point that appears to contain some of the same information from the same trainer," Beshear said.
But Beshear says they haven't been able to confirm if it's a different version or was provided at a different time.
Congressman John Yarmuth expressed his anger in a tweet saying he's angry and embarrassed as a Kentuckian, and as a Jewish American, he's distrubed there are people like this who not only walk among us, but are entrusted to keep us safe.
The Jewish community of Louisville sent out a statement condemning the training. Here is their full statement:
"The Jewish Community of Louisville is shocked and outraged that quotations from Adolph Hitler's Mein Kampf were used in a Kentucky State Police presentation. Adolph Hitler is the worst mass murderer in modern times, responsible for murdering millions of innocent people and absolutely nothing of useful purpose can be or should be inferred from anything he wrote or said. The law abiding citizens of the Commonwealth of Kentucky expect our police will protect us and keep us safe without regard to race, ethnicity, or religious affiliation. Using quotations from this source is inconsistent with these expectations.
Governor Beshear must conduct an immediate comprehensive investigation to determine how such an egregious and offensive use of this material could have happened and address an underlying culture among law enforcement agencies that sanctions these types of beliefs. We insist that action be taken to prevent something like this from happening again."
KSP nor the governors office have told us if Brewers resignation is in light of this newly released information. We have put in an open records request to obtain it.
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