Program allows Central Kentucky law enforcement agencies to share jurisdictions

26 agencies to be part of program

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Jan. 14, 2015) — Justice and Public Safety Cabinet Secretary J. Michael Brown announced that 26 Central Kentucky chiefs and sheriffs have created the Bluegrass and Central Kentucky Unified Police Protection System, or BACKUPPS.

Based on Kentucky Revised Statute 65.240, BACKUPPS allows officers from participating agencies to work across jurisdictional boundaries.

BACKUPPS erases the imaginary lines between counties and cities, allowing officers and investigators to effectively and efficiently fight crime that weaves in and out of Kentucky communities every day, Brown said.

Participating law enforcement agencies remain rooted in their specific city and county jurisdictions, but now have the opportunity to cross boundaries when investigating a crime.

“We are fighting mobile targets,” Brown said. “Bad guys do not recognize the little lines on a map we call borders. They have no jurisdictional sense whatsoever. Thanks to the cooperation of multiple city and county governments, officers in the BACKUPPS counties can cross those jurisdictional lines to wage a more effective, efficient war on crime.”

Georgetown Police Chief Michael D. Bosse, head coordinator for the BACKUPPS initiative, said BACKUPPS takes advantage of Kentucky’s standardized system of recruiting and training law enforcement officers, Bosse said.

“Across the state, all recruits must meet the same specific hiring standards,” he said. “Then all must successfully complete a 22-week standard training regimen. In practice, all officers are taught the same way, making the movement of officers from one county or city to another virtually seamless.”

The 26 agencies involved in BACKUPPS are:

• Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office
• Boyle County Sheriff’s Office
• Clark County Sheriff’s Office
• Clay City Police Department
• Cynthiana Police Department
• Danville Police Department
• Frankfort Police Department
• Franklin County Sheriff’s Office
• Georgetown Police Department
• Grant County Sheriff’s Office
• Harrodsburg Police Department
• Lancaster Police Department
• Mercer County Sheriff’s Office
• Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office
• Mount Sterling Police Department
• Nicholasville Police Department
• Owen County Sheriff’s Office
• Owenton Police Department
• Paris Police Department
• Powell County Sheriff’s Office
• Scott County Sheriff’s Office
• Stanton Police Department
• University of Kentucky Police Department
• Versailles Police Department
• Winchester Police Department
• Woodford County Sheriff’s Office