Published: July 13, 2008 11:37 pm      

60th anniversary celebration

KSP rolls out 'retro' cruisers

Frankfort — As part of its 60th anniversary celebration, the Kentucky State Police last week unveiled 17 “retro” cruisers that will be part of the agency’s fleet for the next year.

The vehicles feature the same color scheme — black with gold stripes — and markings as the vehicles that were used by the agency when it came into being in 1948. They also happen to be made by the same manufacturer as the first KSP vehicles — Ford.

“The color scheme was selected to clearly distinguish the new agency from its predecessor, the Kentucky Highway Patrol, which used white vehicles,” KSP Commissioner Rodney Brewer said at the unveiling ceremony.

“In those days, troopers traveled at 35 mph when not pursuing speeders,” Brewer continued. “Only a few congested urban areas had any speed restrictions at all. The only law that allowed police to charge motorists with reckless driving was if they were traveling more than 45 mph.

“Today, our vehicles are obviously more sophisticated with advanced performance packages and electronics,” Brewer said. “Their gray color and blue striping are designed for more modern times. Employing the black-and-gold color scheme on a limited number of our modern vehicles helps to highlight the agency’s 60-year heritage and creates visible continuity with the principles of service, integrity and professionalism that the agency was founded on and still follows today.”

All of “retro” cruisers are Ford Crown Victorias that were pulled from the KSP’s regular fleet and refinished with the vintage livery. One of the vehicles will be assigned to each of the KSP’s 16 posts, including Ashland, Morehead and Pikeville.

The vehicles will be used for public affairs, recruiting and other special assignments for a year. At the end of that time, they’ll be converted back to the standard KSP markings and returned to the regular fleet.